IFPI Report: More Aussies listening to music through smartphones
52% of Aussies are listening to music through smartphones, especially for audio streaming, making them the 9th highest in the world.
According to The Music Consumer Insight Report 2016, released overnight by the International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI), the most amount of accessing music through smartphones rather than computers is done in Mexico (77%), followed by South Korea (75%).
Australia’s figure is similar to that of Britain (55%), the United States (54%) and Denmark (also 52%).
Globally, 55% of music lovers listen on their smartphones. The Americans are quickly adopting (up 29% from the last report), followed by Japan (26%) and France (12%).
The IFPI report was conducted by Ipsos Connect of changing consumer behaviour in 13 of the world’s biggest music markets, of which Australia is one. It spotlights subscription, mobile, young fans and video streaming.
The Music Consumer Insight Report 2016 can be read here.
Music remains a passionate lifestyle for younger consumers. 71% access licensed music. 82% of paid streaming services also pay for their music in other ways. 48% of internet users also pay for music in some other way.
But the “value gap” for recording artists, songwriters and composers is of considerable concern to the IFPI, as is the growing amount of piracy, which is changing its form to stream ripping.
Key report highlights are:
* Paid audio streaming is growing: 71% of internet users aged 16-64 access licensed music. Paid audio streaming services are growing in popularity, especially among under 25s. One-third of 16-24 year olds now pay for an audio streaming service.
* YouTube is the most used music service, with 82% of its visitors using it for music, rising to 93% of 16—24 year olds. That is over nine in ten young people.
This has been of concern to the recorded music sector, because of YouTube’s far lower payments to it than streaming services. But what is of concern is that most people who access YouTube for the music are not doing it to discover new tracks or artists, but consuming music they already know.
Free video streaming is mainly used as an alternative to paying for music, with 49% of streamers doing so mainly “because it’s free”, while only 27% do so “to sample before buying.”
* Music remains important to younger consumers. 82% of 13—15 year olds listen to licensed music and the majority are willing to pay for it.
* Copyright infringement remains a significant problem, says the IFPI. One third of internet users (33%) admit to accessing illegal or unlicensed music content. It is proving to be a major issue with the report funding that a high 49% of 16—24 year olds are stream-ripping to download music.
Commenting on the report, Frances Moore, CEO, IFPI said:
“There are many positives for the music industry in this research: streaming services have revolutionised the experience of the music consumer, with growing numbers paying for audio streaming services; listeners are responding to the benefits offered by on-the-go, on-demand access to music by moving more and more to the world of mobile, especially in emerging markets; and young fans are showing passion and engagement with music.
“Record companies, and the investment they make in music, are at the heart of this change. That investment is all the more important in the digital world, driving the creation of new music and helping artists connect with their fans.
“There are also key insights informing the policy debate on music’s “value gap”, the biggest problem for today’s music sector. The research highlights the dominant position amongst music services of YouTube, as well as the fact that the site is used by consumers primarily to access music they know, on-demand. Yet YouTube can get away without remunerating fairly artists and producers by hiding behind ‘safe harbour’ laws that were never designed for services that actively engage with and make available music enjoyed by the vast majority of its users.”
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