Streaming’s Share of Ear in U.S., U.K. Are Similar

jennifer-laneThis article by Jennifer Lane, CEO of RAIN Enterprises, was first pulished in her Audio4cast blog.


Recent info from Edison Research’s Share of Ear study puts listening to Internet radio/Music in the US, among persons 12+ at 11.6% of overall listening to all legitimate sources of audio. By way of an explanation of legitimate sources, it was interesting to hear Edison’s Larry Rosin explain, during his presentation of new pieces of this survey at RAIN Summit Indy, that when a person surveyed said they were listening to birds in their backyard, that was not counted as a source of audio. Tweets aside, listening to AM/FM broadcasts came in at 52.1% — probably a smaller share than some would expect. Satellite radio listening came in at 7.7% — a remarkably big number considering there’s one company behind all that audio content distribution.

It’s great to have this new information bookmarked so that we can watch things evolve from year to year. I’m assuming Edison plans to continue this study.

It’s also very interesting to view this data through a global lens and wonder what is going on in other parts of the world. Right around the same time we were discussing this study at RAIN Summit Indy, similar information was being presented at the Nextrad.io conference hosted by RAIN friends James Cridland and Matt Deegan.

audiomonitorJonathan Arendt, CEO of Jazz FM in the UK, and Managing Director of research firm Hallett Arendt, presented data from a new study of UK Share of Ear called Audiomonitor. In it, we learn that listening to online audio among persons 15+ in the UK is 23%, listening to music streaming is 10%, and listening to broadcast radio is 74%. The studies categorize things differently, which no doubt accounts for some of the discrepancy, but it’s also interesting to note that broadcast radio listening has a significantly higher share of ear in the UK. There’s plenty to discuss in this revelation, including the strong part that BBC plays in broadcast radio in the UK, and the more enthusiastic and organized approach to digital broadcast there.

But what’s also interesting to note is that while broadcast radio is holding stronger share of ear in the UK, streaming music and listening to online audio are thriving as well — almost as well as here in the US.

rain summit europe canvasWe’ll be examining the online audio marketplace in the UK and across Europe in November at RAIN Summit Europe which will take place in London on November 4th. The speaker list for this event is fantastic — featuring Will Page, Director of Economics for Spotify, as well as Guy Phillipson, CEO of the IAB UK, and many more smart folks involved in streaming audio in Europe. It’s our third annual RAIN Summit Europe, and our first in the UK, and we’re really looking forward to it. The largest meetup of its kind all year, it’s an event you won’t want to miss. So join us! You can view our speaker list and panel topics here and register here. (Use the code Audio4cast to save a bit too). See you in London in November!

Jennifer Lane