Music consumer survey, Q3 2021 A new generation leans forward

The 20,000 foot view:  As streaming subscriptions rise and music increasingly competes with other forms of media for consumers’ limited attention spans, lean-back listening activities are taking precedence over those which are lean-forward. But the full picture is far more varied. Consumer behaviour is fragmenting, thus incentivising the music industry to diversify use cases, and the next generation of consumers are showing a higher preference for lean-forward and lean-in experiences than previous generations. The data in this report is taken from MIDiA’s            2021 consumer survey. The countries covered in this report are the US, UK, Canada, Australia, Germany, France, Sweden, Brazil and South Korea.

Key Insights

• The majority            music consumers spend little time            money on music, while a            minority account for the lion’s            of music revenue and activity
• Streaming services’            bases vary widely in age            behaviour
• Niche streaming            users tend to score higher            lean-forward behaviours
• Lean-back music            are overall more popular than            which are lean-forward, except among            are seeking control over their            experiences
• Just            of            listen to full albums on            services
• TikTok and            WAUs outperform those of other            media platforms for lean-forward and            music behaviours, like creating playlists
• Smartphones dominate            listening among all consumers            penetration)            especially                       penetration)
• Radio listening            declining in younger generations, while            streaming is growing, as            of            to the radio weekly (compared            half of all consumers) and            music every week (compared to            all consumers)

Companies and brands mentioned in this report :Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, Deezer, Discord, Facebook, Instagram, Instagram Reels, Justin Bieber, Mixcloud, Napster, NetEase Cloud Music, Snapchat, SoundCloud, Spotify, Tencent Music Entertainment, The Weeknd, TikTok, Twitch, Twitter, YouTube, YouTube Shorts