The Infinite Dial, a large-scale research survey of consumer media usage in its 22nd year, was unleashed today by Edison Research and sponsor Triton Digital. Triton is newly involved in the project, replacing former partner Arbitron. As in past years, The Infinite Dial 2014 was unveiled in a multimedia webinar hosted by Edison’s Tom Webster and Triton’s Mike Agovino.
In a meaty portion of The Infinite Dial 2014, Edison and Triton looked at the popularity and usage of audio brands.
The kickoff slide illustrated a graphic rundown of top brands:
No surprise to see Pandora as market leader. Tom Webster of Edison Research, who presented this segment, made a point of iHeartRadio’s placement in this chart. Webster called iHeart an “audio lab,” and said its popularity was a testament to the importance of traditional radio.
Webster also called out iTunes Radio, both in this segment, and in the conclusion, emphasizing that its growth during less than a year is impressive. (iTunes Radio launched on September 18 of last year.)
As with data presented earlier in the event, a demographic indicated greater consumption, per brand among younger users:
Edison and Triton wanted to examine new entrant iTunes Radio more closely, with an eye to discovering how its presence might be disrupting previous consumption behavior. Although some displacement is occurring, both in AM/FM and other online sources, nearly half the respondents reported that iTunes Radio time is “new time” when listening didn’t happen before. This small statistic illuminates the study’s larger finding, and key takeaway, that the Internet audio pie is growing.
Speaking of new services, The Infinite Dial found that nine percent of respondents were familiar with Beats Music, which launched after the study began.
What about YouTube? the researchers wanted to know how much the platform is used for music, particularly. A lot, it turns out:
