Report: Radio Beats Pandora for Music Satisfaction

RADIO ONLINE | Thursday, August 21, 2014

NuVoodoo Media Services has released additional findings from its fourth and latest NuVoodoo Ratings Prospects Study. The company interviewed nearly 1100 respondents, ages 14-54, in all PPM markets to update their insights on the relationship between broadcast radio and the leading digital music provider, Pandora. The findings indicate that 62% of Pandora users listen to Pandora at least 30 minutes per day and nearly as many Pandora users spend that much time daily with broadcast radio. As the length of time using Pandora increased, the percentage spending at least the same amount of time with broadcast radio remained constant.

Leigh Jacobs, VP Research for NuVoodoo said: "What we wanted to learn was whether Pandora's algorithms do a better job creating an enjoyable playlist for consumers than the researched and carefully curated playlists that Broadcast programmers sweat over day in, day out. It's Pandora's technology against radio's research and decades of experience."

"Our data show that Broadcast beats Pandora for music satisfaction-big among those who align themselves with rock-leaning formats," continues Jacobs. "While the customization possibilities are endless with Pandora and other digital pure plays, we know that few take advantage of all those possibilities. What it sets up is a massive number of swing voters-consumers whose time we could pull back from Pandora with the right promotional tactics or lower commercial loads."

Carolyn Gilbert, NuVoodoo President said: "Radio's on a bigger stage than it's been since the advent of TV, but it does a great job making great music programming easy for consumers. We've known for years that most people don't want to program their own music or design their own cars, for that matter. They want to pick something that works for them and enjoy it."

Jacobs added, "We know that many Pandora listeners are also heavy users of broadcast radio, but we're interested in whether those using Pandora begin to pull away from broadcast radio over time. These latest results validate our hypothesis that longer experience with Pandora doesn't equate to less listening to broadcast radio. While those who've spent more time with Pandora tend to increase their daily TSL from the service, they claim not to reduce their TSL with broadcast radio."

Mike O'Connor, NuVoodoo EVP, Marketing noted, "This new information represents a huge opportunity for radio. Our marketing clients benefit directly from the intelligence we glean from our Ratings Prospect Studies and other proprietary indicators, as we develop well-crafted station promotions and marketing targeting those people who use Pandora, and those most likely to carry meters. This research validates so many parts of our unique product formula, and we're eager to rack up more successes for our clients this fall based on these and other proprietary results."