Radio Leads Music Discovery, On-demand Closes Gap

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Integr8 Research has published the third in a series exploring how changing technology impacts radio listening and new music consumption. The good news is that local FM radio stations remain the leading source for 15- to 39-year-old listeners to learn about new music. Unfortunately, radio no longer wins that by a landslide as other music listening options are catching up, President Matt Bailey wrote in a blog post.

In part 2 of the series, Integr8 showed how people who own smart speakers, such as the Amazon Echo and Google Home, were indeed more likely to stream local FM stations, but are also more likely to use on-demand streaming services such as Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Play and Apple music. So, Bailey asks, "Do smart speaker owners now turn to Alexa to find out what's new instead of their local CHR personality?" The study found three factors that most threaten radio's role in new music discovery:

1. Being young
For listeners over 30, radio remains the dominant way the majority of listeners learn about new music. Among teens, however, only 34% typically hear the latest new music first from a local FM radio station, while almost as many hear new music first from an on-demand audio service or YouTube.

2. Subscribing to an on-demand service
When listeners regularly use Spotify or one of its clones, the on-demand service takes on a much bigger role in new music discovery. Only 41% of weekly on-demand audio users hear new music first on FM radio, while 34% hear new music first on an on-demand audio service.

3. Owning a connected car
When listeners acquire a car with Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, their music consumption behavior and FM radio's role in new music discovery both change dramatically. Like all listeners, connected car owners are most likely to spend time with a local FM station. However, they are also far more likely to be weekly users of a wide variety of alternatives.

With connected car owners using so many alternatives to FM radio, only 43% of connected car owners say they hear the latest new music first on FM radio, while 33% hear new music first on an on-demand audio service, the Integr8 study found. That shift is bigger than for any other device examined. Today, only 8% of 15- to 39-year-olds own a car with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, but automotive experts predict that by 2020, three-fourths of all cars sold worldwide will be connected cars.