Many Americans pay for audio subscriptions, but there’s a lot of room for growth

Edison Research has released new stats from its ongoing Share of Ear consumer research survey that look at paid audio now and in the future.

47% of Americans subscribe to an audio service, up from 23% in 2015.

“Growth has come across the board,” according to Edison from streaming music services, SiriusXM, and Audible subscriptions. Podcast subscriptions are fairly new and were not mentioned in the data.

There is also a growing consumer willingness to pay to avoid ads.

“While much of this doubling of the numbers is the redirection of money that was going to physical music formats to music streaming subscriptions, there is also the trend of more people paying to avoid commercials,” said Edison Research president Larry Rosin. “I have to believe that we will see more subscription efforts in the future, particularly from radio companies.”

Audio joins the long list of products that once were ‘free’ which people now pay for.

But 47% paid audio penetration also means there’s room for growth. By comparison, as of last year, 74% of adults in the United States paid a subscription to at least one TV service.