IFPI’s ‘Consumer Insight’ study shows YouTube is king, piracy is still a problem

We listen to almost an entire day of music each week, mostly in the car,  streaming is our weapon of choice, YouTube is still the king, and rock rules. These are just some of the takeaways from the IFPI’s new report into how music fans get their fix.

Every year, the international trade association’s goes deep into listening habits and trends with its “Music Consumer Insight Report” which, in the words of its CEO France Moore, charts how “music soundtracks the many parts of our day.”

If the new data is accurate, music is very much part of our DNA, thanks largely to YouTube and the plethora of app-based licensing streaming platforms.

Researchers found folks around the globe were plugging into music for 2.5 hours each day — almost 18 hours each week — with more than 86% of listeners using on-demand streaming brands. Smartphones are the hub for more than three-quarters of all that streaming activity.

Almost 20 years after Napster created shockwaves in the music industry, it would seem piracy is still a problem. Some 38 percent of respondents said they listened to copyright-infringing works, with stream-ripping the most popular method of snatching music.

YouTube’s frosty relationship with content owners is well-reported, though the IFPI report confirms the video-streaming giant is still the undisputed biggest player in town. Video sites accounts for more than half of all on-demand streaming time, and YouTube hogs almost 47 percent of all time spent using on-demand services. Some 53 percent of Australians use licensed streaming services, down on the global average of 61 percent. The local industry will see that number as an “opportunity.”

“This year’s ‘Music Consumer Insight Report’ tells the story of how recorded music is woven into the lives of fans around the world. As it becomes increasingly accessible, it continues to be embraced across formats, genres and technologies,” comments Moore.

“Record companies are working with their partners to sustain and develop these rich and diverse ways in which music is being enjoyed, ensuring that it continues on its exciting journey around the world.

YouTube is still No. 1

“However, this report also shows the challenges the music community continues to face – both in the form of the evolving threat of digital copyright infringement as well as in the failure to achieve fair compensation from some user-upload services,” Moore adds. “Policymakers around the globe have been scrutinising these issues and increasingly acting to address them.”

IFPI tapped market research firm AudienceNet to conduct the study, which polled 1,000-2,000 consumers in each of 18 territories, including Australia, all aged 16-64. China and India among the mix, but results from those two countries were not included in “global” figures within the report.

Download the 11-page document here.

This article originally appeared on The Industry Observer, which is now part of The Music Network.