New study finds licensed audio streaming consumption jumped 22% in last 12 months, more Australians using smartphones to listen to music

More Australians are using smartphones to listen to music, according to a new reportreleased by music industry organisation the IFPI.

Dubbed ’Connecting with Music’, the latest version of the2017 Music Consumer Insight Report was released overnight, and indicates that this year 59% of music consumers in Australia turned to smartphones (ranking it #9 of the world’s major music markets), compared to 52% in 2016.

Mexico has the highest with 91%, then Brazil at 85% and South Korea at 80%.

The other countries above AustraliaareItaly (73%), Spain (72%), Sweden (68%), the United States (63%) and Germany (61%).

In terms of licensed audio streaming engagement in the past six months, Australia ranked at 10^thspot, with 41%. The highest was Mexico at 75%.

Use ofYouTube for music is particularly high with Australians, at 77%. This ranks the country at #12, with Mexico again topping the list with 97%.

The report is based on research conducted by Ipsos Connect, and examines the ways in which fans primarily aged 16—64 are engaging with recorded music across 13 of the world’s leading music markets.

These were Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Mexico, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, the UK and the US – which accounts for 85% of the global recorded music market, the IFPI stated.

Among the key findings are:

• Fans worldwide are increasingly engaged with audio streaming: Globally, 45% are listening through a licensed audio streaming service (up from 37% in 2016). 90% of paid audio streamers listen to music using a smartphone.
• Young fans remain highly engaged with music despite an abundance of competing media: 13–15 year-olds are highly engaged with music, with 85% using streaming services.
• The average consumer listens in four different licensed ways. 55% go for video streaming (including user upload services as YouTube), YouTube itself (46%), paid audio streaming (23%) and free audio streaming (22%).
• 87% are listening to music on the radio, with broadcast in the lead (68%) and internet radio only half the draw (35%).
• The ’Value Gap’ persists: user upload video services, such as YouTube, account for the majority of on-demand streaming time yet do not return fair value to the music community.
• 85% of YouTube visitors use the site for music each month and 76% of YouTube visitors use it for music already known to them.
• Copyright infringement remains a significant issue, with stream ripping the top source: 40% of consumers access unlicensed music, including 35% who stream rip music – 53% among 16-24 year-olds.

Frances Moore, CEO of IFPI, commented: “This report shows some amazing trends defining this new era, how fans around the world are enjoying recorded music and connecting with the artists they love in so many ways.

“The increasingly digital global music environment did not just happen.

“It requires an enormous amount of work from record companies and their partners to license over 40 million tracks to hundreds of digital services around the world.

“The report also highlights the ongoing challenges for the industry. It provides further evidence of the Value Gap – the mismatch between the value that user upload services, such as YouTube, extract from music and the revenue returned to those who invest in and create it.

“The global music community is united in urging policy makers to act to address this.”

She warned that copyright infringement is growing, now evolving with stream ripping.

“With the wealth of licensed music available to fans, these types of illegal sites have no justifiable place in the music world.”