Electric Jukebox study raises questions over age and streaming

Electric Jukebox, which makes a set-top box for music, has commissioned a study from YouGov that explored how streaming may be missing out on the over-35 age demographic. The survey found that more over-35 respondents consider radio easier to use than streaming; only young millennials showed a strong preference for streaming over radio. Of the 2,000 British respondents, 16% of the age 14-34 group had a streaming subscription, compared with 6% of the 35-55 group and 3% of the over 55 group.

“The music streaming industry is missing a huge trick as the over 35’s love music, and have the most time and money to spend on it, but are the least engaged by subscription based streaming,” said Electric Jukebox CEO Rob Lewis. “The complexity of existing services, combined with monthly subscription commitments, has created a black hole for alienated Generation X and Baby Boomers who are twice the size of the Millennial market and have far more spending power.”

The branding language coming out of Electric Jukebox focuses on the ease and simplicity of using the product for at-home music. Its set-top box was originally slated for a UK launch at the 2015 holiday season, but has since been delayed. The U.S. debut for Electric Jukebox is also on pause due to concerns over mechanical licensing. The company is targeting those listeners for whom streaming might seem too complicated and giving them digital music with a user experience more akin to CDs or radio, which does color these survey findings. However, the drop off in use of streaming service among increasingly older groups can be seen in other data from sources such as Nielsen and EY.