Music consumer report: music remains integral to our lives, Australia ranks #12 in audio streaming take-up

Music remains an integral part of our lives, says the  International Federation of Phonographic Industries (IFPI)’s Music Consumer Insight Report 2018.

On average, we each enjoy music for 17.8 hours per week.

The report examines the ways in which music consumers aged 16-64 engage with recorded music across 20 of the world’s largest music markets – including Australia.

But there’s already a gap between how the music is consumed by the younger generation.

In general, most music (66%) is consumed in the car.

Other favourite locations are relaxing at home (63%), commuting to work/ education (54%), while working or studying (40%), at gigs and festivals (36%), while exercising at the gym (36%) or while sleeping (19%).

But it’s a different story for the 16—24 demographic

For them, 72% report that most of their music is listened to while they are travelling to and from school or work.

Relaxing at home gets 69%, while cooking and cleaning is at 54% and going to sleep is 30%.

Streaming is virtually ubiquitous: 86% of us listen to music through on-demand streaming.

Young music consumers are most engaged streamers, with 57% of 16-24-year-olds using a paid audio streaming service.

User upload services continue to dominate consumption across all ages, nearly half of all time spent listening to on-demand music is on YouTube.

In terms of audio streaming use, 86% of consumers are listening to music through on-demand streaming (audio and video).

Australia ranks at #12 in terms of the popularity of audio streaming, at 53%.

Topping the list is Russia at 87%, followed by Mexico at 81%.

Consumers are engaging with their local music genres:

66% of consumers in Japan listen to J-Pop, for instance.

69% of music fans in France listen to Variété Française and, in Brazil, 55% tune in to música popular Brasileira.

High-growth music markets are seeing high levels of licensed engagement: 96% of consumers in China and 96% in India listen to licensed music.

But copyright infringement remains a significant issue.

More than one-third (38%) of consumers obtain music through infringing methods – with stream ripping the dominant method (32% of consumers).

Frances Moore, chief executive, IFPI, commented:

“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.

“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.

“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.

“Policymakers around the globe have been scrutinising these issues and increasingly acting to address them.”

Read the full report here.