Study Reveals How Smart Speakers Impact Music Consumption
A new study from AudienceNet has revealed that, surprise surprise, those over the age of 16 with smart speakers in their homes are listening to more music, for longer periods of time.
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Guest post by Bobby Owsinski of Music 3.0
To the surprise of no one, a new study finds that the smart speaker trend is impacting music consumption in a big way. A new study by AudienceNet of people over the age of 16 looked at exactly how each age group is consuming music and by what distribution source.
Those that own a smart speaker found themselves not only listening to more music but listening longer as well. 14% of the U.S. population now own a smart speaker, but those that do listen to 50% more music and 49% longer than before. They also check out more playlists as well.
Perhaps a more interesting part of the study came from where consumers get their music from. 31% still get their music from AM/FM radio, while 27% comes from streaming. 12% comes from Internet radio and 10% still comes from downloads (a surprise given how sales have fallen off the cliff). 7% comes from satellite radio while only 5% still comes from CDs.
Age makes a difference though, as those between the ages of 16 and 19 consume 60% by streaming, although 9% still consume via downloads (again surprising). When it comes to physical media though, only 2% consume their music that way.
Smartphones are still the primary listening device among younger listeners aged 34 and below (45% for ages 16-19, 40% for ages 20-24, and 31% for ages 25-34). The smartphone is also the most used device for music consumption overall with 25% of total time spent listening. Surprisingly, radio receivers of all varieties still account for the majority of music listening time.
What this and most other studies show is that there is a shift of favorite devices and sources for consuming music, but the standard-bearer for decades is still the leader, and that’s radio. While people now get their music from a variety of places, as long as we spend time in our cars, radio will most likely continue to be king.
