Female gamers are being overlooked as music super fans [report]

A new report suggests that female gamers are being overlooked when it comes to their music consumption habits.

MRC Data’s new Gaming + Music Report emphasises how both male and female gamers are big music consumers.

But there is a greater distinction when it comes to female gamers.

“[They] are hidden gems,” exclaimed the report’s editors, pointing out that female gamers’ music engagement is almost 10% above that of male gamers.

Not only are female gamers listening to some of the most popular genres, but in fact are moving some of these genre trends forward.

“Female gamers are more likely to listen to pop/Top 40 (34% more likely), R&B (20% more likely), country (24% more likely), and Latin (28% more likely).

“When you consider the audiences’ social connections, reaching this group is imperative.”

Female gamers are 10% more likely to interact with social media, and 20% more likely to use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok.

One of the most successful gamers, Anastasia ‘Nast1a’ Evdokina

They are more likely to discover new music via social short video clip sites like TikTok, and more likely to spread the message through word-of-mouth.

“Music-gaming integrations make sense for brands that want to appeal to these influencers,” argued MRC Data.

“Among female gamers, the top brand activations to gain most favourability include supporting a charity or community event with a music artist (67%), having giveaways for artist merch and/or music (60%), and offering giveaways for live music events (58%).”

In Australia, female gamers make up 46% of the 17 million Australians who play, according to the Interactive Gaming & Entertainment Association’s 2022 Digital Australia report.

This is up from 38% of all players identifying as female in 2005.

New research from Bond University’s Digital Australia report reiterates these figures, adding that 1% of gamers identify themselves as non-binary.

The females play 70 minutes a day compared to the 94 minutes put in by males.

MRC Data’s Gaming + Music Report, also showed Gen X, the original gamers, spend more money on music than the average music listener.

The new gamers (Gen Z) spend two more hours per week with music than the average listener.

23% of these music-zapped gamers discover new songs and artists through games, the rate climbing to 34% among Gen Zers.

“Video games offer artists a platform where audiences are already in a creative discovery mindset, opening up doors for less obvious artist appearances,” the report said.

Country music listening gamers are highly engaged and somewhat overlooked.

In fact gamers are 174% are more likely to listen to country than EDM.

This group is younger than most expect — over half are Gen Z and Millennials.

US gamers are 13% more likely to listen to music than the average music consumer, 14% more likely to pay for music streaming services and 19% more likely to have a higher expectation of how they listen.

“The number one factor driving music device selection among gamers is audio quality,” according to the report, which adds that gamers are willing to open their wallets and pay for it.

“Gamers are 24% more likely to own specialised premium headphones, 18% more likely to own smart speakers, and 18% more likely to own smart watches.

“Video gamers who listen to music spend 19% more money on music categories in a typical month than the average music fan.”