In-Depth Study on Global Music Listening Habits Released

IFPI released its ‘Music Consumer Insight Report 2018’ earlier this month. The report examines the ways in which music consumers aged 16-64 engage with recorded music across 20 of the world’s largest music markets.

The report, which covers engagement statistics from the percentage of listeners using on-demand streaming, to the dominant methods of copyright infringement, can be download in full for free from the IFPI website.

Report highlights include high engagement with local music genres

There are a number of interesting figures highlighted by the report:

• Music is an integral part of our lives – On average, we each enjoy music for 17.8 hours per week, with the car being the most popular listening location.
• Streaming is virtually ubiquitous – 86 percent of us listen to music through on-demand streaming. Young music consumers are the most engaged streamers, with 57 percent of 16-24 year olds using a paid audio streaming service.
• Consumer are engaging with their local music genres – Music consumers especially enjoy listening to local music genres, with 66 percent of consumers in Japan listening to J-Pop, 69 percent of consumers in France listening to Variété Française and, in Brazil, 55 percent listening to música popular brasileira.
• High-growth music markets are seeing high levels of licensed engagement – 96 percent of consumers in China and 96 percent in India listen to licensed music.
• User upload services continue to dominate consumption – Nearly half of all time spent listening to on-demand music is on YouTube.
• Copyright infringement remains a significant issue – More than one-third (38 percent) of consumers obtain music through infringing methods – with stream ripping the dominant method (32 percent of consumers).

Addressing challenges for the music community

Frances Moore, Chief Executive, IFPI, commented:

“This year’s Music Consumer Insight Report tells the story of how recorded music is woven into the lives of fans around the world. As it becomes increasingly accessible, it continues to be embraced across formats, genres and technologies.

“Record companies are working with their partners to sustain and develop these rich and diverse ways in which music is being enjoyed, ensuring that it continues on its exciting journey around the world.

“However, this report also shows the challenges the music community continues to face – both in the form of the evolving threat of digital copyright infringement as well as in the failure to achieve fair compensation from some user-upload services. Policymakers around the globe have been scrutinising these issues and increasingly acting to address them.”

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