Pew Internet surveys music listening on cell phones

The Pew Research Center has added a survey category to its ongoing study of how Americans use their connected phones. Adding to historical behaviors such as texting, emailing, browsing, downloading apps, and getting directions, listening to music is a component of Pew’s latest report.

The headline statistic is this: 48 percent of all cell phone owners listen to music on their phones. The sample size was 2,076.

Men tend toward listening more than women, 51 percent to 45 percent. Phone listening is a youth activity predominantly, with 80 percent of positive responses falling in the 18-29 year-old population. Generally, more education transfers to more listening. Likewise with more money: households with incomes above $75,000 contained 58 percent of positive responses. Urban listeners outnumber suburban listeners, which in turn use cell phone for music more than rural residents.

The survey was conducted in April and May of this year.