Music Consumer Behaviour Q3 2018 YouTube Leads the Way But At What Cost?

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The 20,000 Foot View: This report presents music consumption data for 2018, with consumer data for US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Australia, Japan, Germany, Sweden and the UK.
Key Findings
- Radio listening is the most widespread music activity with penetration and watching music videos on YouTube is second on
- Across all ages, YouTube is the only streaming activity to cross over to mainstream (i.e. more than penetration)
- A generational divide is present, with older consumers clinging on to legacy format and younger consumers adopting streaming
- Streaming audio behaviour is fragmented, with user playlists, curated playlists, podcasts and streaming radio ‘channels’ all at or below
- The car is the clear leader in terms of music listening location with penetration but phone is highest among under
- Free audio streaming is smaller than both YouTube and music radio in all markets, even in Sweden, home of Spotify
- In Mexico YouTube music penetration is for consumers aged 20–24, compared to for music radio
- Podcast penetration is – as high as curated playlist penetration
- Podcast penetration is highest in stronger radio markets, with penetration at in Canada and Australia, though peaking at in Sweden
- YouTube is the world’s most widely used streaming music app with WAU penetration, far ahead of second placed Spotify on
- Music video ad supported label revenue was up in 2017, compared to just for ad supported audio
- YouTube’s growth comes at the expense of traditionally licensed services, both in terms of users and advertiser spend
- Spotify’s WAU rate is markedly higher than Apple Music’s
- YouTube is at the bottom of the pack in terms of free-to-paid conversion, with just
- Of the other freemium services, Spotify is top with followed by Deezer on and Soundcloud on
- Streaming video has its use case – binge watching – but playlists are not yet that for streaming music
Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon, Amazon Prime Music, Amazon Music Unlimited, Apple, Apple Music, Deezer, Google, Google Play Music, Napster, Soundcloud, Spotify, Tidal, YouTube