Edison: How Millennials listen

Edison Research has revisited its landmark study on streaming music listening conducted last September, “The New MainStream.” That piece of research was commissioned by an alliance of online music providers called The Streaming Audio Taskforce. The headline result of that listener survey indicated that over 50 percent of online Americans listened to streaming audio.

Now, Edison breaks out numbers for the 18-34 demographic. Larry Rosin, president of Edison Research, presented the results last week at both the RAIN Summit NYC, and IAB’s Digital Audio Agency Day — both held as a same-day joint even in Manhattan. Today, Edison makes the break-our study public and illustrates the results in an infographic.

Edison reports that the broad trends revealed in the original report are intensified in the 18-34 cohort.

“The changes happening in media consumption are vastly more pronounced in the younger age groups.  Our study of online 18-34s shows that in every location of listening outside of the car, online 18-34s are more likely to listen to online radio (including the streams of AM/FM stations) than radio from a traditional transmitter. ”

Edison notes that mobile listening, especially the smartphone, is driving streaming use.

As last fall, Edison stresses that while some migration from AM/FM to online listening is probably occurring, the more important takeaway is the expansion of listening hours in the day, facilitated by mobile devices and characterized by “walking around” listening.