In a private note to investors, Morgan Stanley issues results of a 2,000-person survey that canvassed for listening choices. AM/FM radio had the greatest reach in this sample, with YouTube a strong second. Satellite radio and podcasts were also measured, in a spectrum of 17 audio sources. Continue Reading
Spotify posted strong subscriber numbers to kick off 2015, and at the same time is building its ad-supported business in its free-listening service. The company sponsored a brand impact study by comScore to investigate the streaming consumer experience. The results portray the streaming audience as one that’s accessible and open to marketing and brand initiatives. Continue Reading
Month-over-month webcast listening moved incrementally upward in October, according to Triton Digital’s monthly Webcast Metrics Top 20 Ranker. Year-over-year and year-to-date gains were also apparent in September. Continue Reading
Now that we’ve set off on a fresh new year, we’re getting some interesting and insightful perspectives on everything that transpired in the music world during 2014. Data scientists have had the time to collect final numbers and finish analyses. On Jan. 2, we got a preliminary look at the work of Nielsen SoundScan team, which showed a general trend of increased streaming and decreased sales. Today, we have the 2014 Nielsen Music U.S. Report to expand on those first finds. Continue Reading
Guest columnist Larry Rosin examines trendlines of streaming growth as measured by Triton Digital’s monthly Webcast Metrics report. Continue Reading
Continuing the year-end roundup, BPI released data about sales and streams in the UK. The industry group reported a doubling in number of streams to 14.8 billion songs. Streaming accounted for 12.6% of music consumed in the nation in 2014. Continue Reading
Nielsen SoundScan released its 2014 year-end figures for both music sales and streaming in the U.S. Streaming totaled 164 billion songs, up 54% from the 106 billion songs streamed the previous year. According to the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the overall music consumption didn’t change extensively between 2013 and 2014 based on an equivalence where 1,500 song streams or 10 individual song downloads count as an album sale. Continue Reading
Studies, surveys, and metrics abounded in 2014. RAIN News readers demonstrated acute interest in research which attempted to tease out trends in the fast-changing field of streaming audio. Click through for a rundown. Continue Reading
Will Page, Director of Economics at Spotify, published a revealing analysis of how Meghan Trainor’s hit song “All About That Bass” became a charted hit, pushed more by streaming than by radio — and even before the track was available to purchase in the U.K. The cross-continental story raises questions about music distribution strategies in an era when online engagement can create hit without traditional levers. Continue Reading
Most of today’s online music services include some feature that encourages listeners to discover new artists and songs. According to a new study from MusicWatch, though, the biggest driver of discovery is actually online video. Numbers from the consumer research company showed that 34% of respondents said video services were the most influential source of new music discovery. Continue Reading
Ad network TargetSpot announced a partnership with audience measurement company Quantcast, which will allow TargetSpot to more finely identify audience characteristics across its portfolio of streaming audio publishers. The agreement represents an important example of the Big Data movement in online audio, and the increasing expectation of targeted audience segments among advertisers. Continue Reading
Dave Van Dyke of Bridge Ratings Media Research has published some recent data about pureplay listening in a LinkedIn post. “Something interesting is happening on the internet streaming front,” Van Dyke writes. He projects that time spent listening to pureplay streaming will exceed terrestrial simulcasting by next year. Continue Reading