CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

CONSUMPTION BY GENRE
How Different Fans Consume Music
CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC 5

01
SAMPLE
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

SAMPLE

A statistically and demographically representative 3,000 RESPONDENTS

sample of the 16+ year old US population.
To guarantee national representation, quotas were set for: Gender, Age
GENDER AGE REGION
and Geographic Region, in accordance with the 2010 US census. All
participants had online access.
16-24 17
Fieldwork was completed in July 2018. The demographic profile of those NORTHEAST 18%
25-34 17
surveyed was as follows: MIDWEST 22%
35-44 16
45-54 18
SOUTH 37%

Male Female 55-64 15 WEST 23%

49% 51% 65+ 16

INCOME PROFESSION

<20k 11% Employed full time 44%

$20,000-$29,999 9% Employed part time 12%
$30,000-$39,999 11%
Unemployed and 6%
$40,000-$49,999 9% looking for work
$50,000-$59,999 10% Unemployed and not 8%
looking for work
$60,000-$69,999 7%
Retired 20%
$70,000-$79,999 7%
$80,000-$99,999 10% Student 9%
$100,000-$149,999 10%
Rather not say 2%
$150,000 and over 5%
Would rather not say 11%
 CONSUMPTION
MUSIC CONSUMPTION
BY GENRE
THEHOW
OVERALL
DIFFERENT
LANDSCAPE
FANS CONSUME
2018 MUSIC

PERSONAS
Our data revealed the
following archetypes
for five core musical
genres

MARY-A N N J ESSI C A B RA D OZZY CAMERO N

C OUN TRY FAN P OP FAN D A N C E FA N C L A S S IC R O C K FA N H IP-HO P/ RA P FA N

GENDER Female Female Male Both Both

AGE 45+ 16-34 15–34 35+ 15–34

LISTENS TO FM/AM Radio On-demand streaming & FM/AM Radio Spotify & YouTube AM/FM Radio Spotify & Pandora

LISTENS ON FM/AM Receiver FM/AM Receiver and Smartphones Laptops & Smartphones CD Players, standalone & in-car Smartphones

SOCIAL PLATFORM Facebook Facebook & Twitter Snapchat, YouTube & Instagram Facebook & YouTube Instagram & YouTube
CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC 11

02
GENRES
LIKED
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

CLASSIC ROCK
CONTINUES TO REIGN
Three genres stood out with 40% or more listeners These five represented a broad spread of potential high value over to streaming
listeners, with traditional channels like services and digital consumption, while
citing them as preferred genres – Classic Rock (48%),
radio playing an important part in listening Dance Music and Hip-Hop were the stellar
Pop (41%) and Rock ‘n’ Roll (40%). Rock (36%) and and driving popularity. digital performers, carving the path for the
Country/Western (35%) followed with over a third of next generation of listeners.
In terms of consumption, Pop Music was
the sample also showing preference. the ‘transitional genre’ in second place – Genre homogenisation and agnosticism
48
skewing younger than it’s top peers – and was evident, with a broad spread of
showing a combination of forward looking popularity across the leading genres.
48
digital behaviour and traditional listening Hip-Hop and Dance Music appeared to be
41 40 via AM/FM radio. This will be the key genre punching below their weight in popularity

41 36 driving mainstream listening into lean as standalone genres, but we believe

40 35 back and lean forward streaming in the elements of these two and other genres
36 next few years. Country & Western in fifth like EDM or R’n’B would have been classed
35
place represents an opportunity, albeit a under Pop by many respondents.
difficult one, to move casual listeners with
25
24
25 20
24 18 18 18
17 17
20 16 16 16 16
15
18 18 18 14 14
17 17
16 16 16 16 11 11
15 10
14 14 9 9 9
11 11 7
10 5 5 5
9 9 9
7 2 1
5 5 5
2 1
Classic Rock

Pop

Rock ‘n’ Roll

Rock

Country & Western

Hip-Hop/Rap

Indie/Alternative Rock

RnB

Soundtrack

Singer/Songwriter

Show Music/Musicals

Instrumental

Jazz

Blues

Lighter Classical

Dance

Other Classical

Heavy Metal

Prog/Progressive Rock

Folk

Electronic Dance/EDM

Chart Music

Punk/New Wave

Ambient/Chill

Reggae/Dancehall/Soca

Dicso

Urban

World

Opera

Bollywood

Grime

None of the above

Classic Rock

Pop

Rock ‘n’ Roll

Rock

Country & Western

Hip-Hop/Rap

Indie/Alternative Rock

RnB

Soundtrack

Singer/Songwriter

Show Music/Musicals

Instrumental

Jazz

Blues

Lighter Classical

Dance

Other Classical

Heavy Metal

Prog/Progressive Rock

Folk

Electronic Dance/EDM

Chart Music

Punk/New Wave

Ambient/Chill

Reggae/Dancehall/Soca

Dicso

Urban

World

Opera

Bollywood

Grime

None of the above

 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

TOP GENRES
BY GENDER
Out of the top genres, Females TOP GENRES BY GENDER

were more likely to say that Total Male Female

they enjoy Pop, Country &
Western and show music/ 48 50
47 47
musicals. 41 42 40
40 38
35 36 33
Males were more likely to
select Rock, Classic Rock, and
Electronic Dance/EDM.

Classic Rock Pop Music Rock 'n' Roll Rock Music

40
35
29 25 25 25 24 24 23 21
20 19

Country & Western Hip-Hop/Rap Indie/Alternative Rock RnB (Rhythm & Blues)

18 20 20 22
16 18 15 18 15
13 11
8

Soundtrack Singer/Songwriter Show Music/Musicals Electronic Dance/EDM

Question: Which of
the following types
of music do you
generally like?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

TOP GENRES
BY AGE
Total 16-19 20-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64

Classic Rock, Rock, and TOP GENRES BY AGE

Rock’n’Roll all skewed older, Total 62 60

56
with preference generally 16-19 48
52 54
49 48
46 46 44
increasing with age. 20-24
44 41 42 40 40
42 40
36 39
42
36
25-34 30 31
28
Pop and Hip-Hop/Rap and 35-44
26 25
28

Indie/Alternative, by contrast, 45-44

had a younger bias, with 55-64

preference peaking among Classic Rock Pop Music Rock'n'Roll Rock Music

those aged 16-34 before

dropping off proportionately
with age.
54
48
42
38 38 40
35 37 35
33 31
31 28
26 25 24 23
21 20 22 22 22 21
19
15 15
13
5

Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Indie/Alternative Rock RnB (Rhythm & Blues)

23 24 23
21 21 22
21 20 20 19 20
18 18 18 17 18 18 17 17
16 17
15 14 15 14 15
13 13

Soundtrack Singer/Songwriter Show Music/Musicals Instrumental

Question: Which of
the following types
of music do you
generally like?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

CHOSEN GENRES:
GENDER & AGE
Both Country/Western
GENDER and GENDER
CHOSEN GENRES: GENDER AgeCHOSEN GENRES: AGE Age
Pop fans skewed
Male
Female
Female
(59% Male Female 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54
16-24 55-64
25-34 65+35-44 45-54 55-64 65+
35 35
each) whilst EDM fans skewed
heavily male (63%).
Total 49 Total 4951 51 Total 17 17 16
Total 17
18 15
17 16
16 18
The audiences of Pop, Country/
Wester and Electronic Dance/
EDM skewed young, whilst
Classic Rock 51 Classic Rock 49
51 49 Classic Rock 12 15 15 Rock
Classic 2312 15 19 15 16 23
fans of Classic Rock and
Country/Western tended
to be over the age of 35.
Pop Music 41 Pop Music 4159 59 Pop Music 23 23
Pop Music 18 23 19 23 9 8 18

Country/Western 41 Country/Western 4159 59 Country/Western 12 15

18 Country/Western 2012 17
18 1519 20

Hip-Hop/Rap 49 Hip-Hop/Rap 51
49 51 Hip-Hop/Rap 36 Hip-Hop/Rap 29 36 21 11 329

Electronic Dance/EDM Electronic63

Dance/EDM 63
37 37 Electronic Dance/EDM 34Electronic Dance/EDM27 3417 15 3
4 27
CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC 21

03
CONSUMPTION
HABITS
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

HIP-HOP AND EDM FANS ARE

HEAVY DIGITAL CONSUMERS
Respondents who carried AVERAGE TIME ON MED IA SOURCES

out the tested activities were Total Pop Music Classic Rock Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM
then asked how long they
roughly spend doing each 232

in a typical day. Responses 215 213 217

210
were accumulated, allowing
the average time listening (in 196
189
minutes) to be calculated.
In terms of listening to music, Hip-Hop/ 168
161 158
Rap and EDM fans were the most engaged, 156 154 155
151 153 148
152
149
in comparison to the other fan segments. 145 143
Hip-Hop/Rap listened for an average of 161 137
130
mins a day, whilst EDM fans listened for 123
196 mins, a significant over-index on the 116 118 113 119
110
national average of 151 mins. 107
104

Watching terrestrial Tv Listening to music Watching episodes/films on Playing video games Viewing social media content
online video platforms

Base: 2,968
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

HIP-HOP & EDM FANS

ARE EAGER STREAMERS
Hip-Hop and EDM fans MUSIC: SHARE OF LISTENING

significantly over-indexed Electronic Dance/

Total Classic Rock Pop Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap EDM
on time spent listening to on AM/FM Radio
demand streaming services. On demand music streaming
(Spotify, Apple Music,
Online platforms accounted for 43% of EDM 19 YouTube etc.)
fan’s listening time, and 38% of Hip-Hop 23
Other internet Radio
fans’ listening time, whilst the national 31 31
34 (Pandora etc.)
average was 27%. 37
Digital Downloads/Files
Country and Classic Rock fans meanwhile Satellite Radio (Sirius XM
under-indexed at 21% and 22% respectively. etc.)
AM/FM Radio Stations
This higher uptake of online services has Streamed Online
come at the expense of AM/FM Radio -
CDs
whilst the format accounted for 31% of the
43 Vinyl
general population listening time, it took 38
a share of just 19% of Dance fans total 27 22 30
listening time, and 23% of Hip-Hop fan
21
listening time. Country and Classic Rock
fans meanwhile over- indexed on radio
listenership at 37% and 34% respectively.
12
12 13
13
15 14
11
10 9
11
9 12
9
7 7
6 Question: To the
5 5 5 nearest 15 minutes,
5 6 how is your
5
4 2
music listening
time normally
5 6 4 5 3 split between the
3 following sources?
Base: 2,494
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

HIGH DIGITAL CONSUMPTION AMONG

POP, HIP-HOP & EDM FANS
Total Classic Rock Pop Music Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM

Reflective of their preference PLATFORM REACH

for online streaming, Hip- Total Pop Music Classic Rock Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM
Hop, Pop and Dance fans
over- indexed on usage of 61
58
digital platforms, particularly:
YouTube, Pandora, Spotify, 46
iTunes, Facebook, Apple Music
36 34
35 33 34
and SoundCloud. 33
28
23 25 24
21 24
20 20
17 18
15 15 13 12 13

YouTube Pandora Spotify iTunes

15 16 16
13 14 14 12 14 11 15 15 13 13 12 12 12 12
9 9 10 10 9 10 9

CD iHeart Radio Facebook Amazon Prime Music

10 9 11 9 10
8 7 7 8 8 8
6 5 6 6 5 4 6 4 4
3 3 2 2

Music as digital files MusicPodcast(s)

as digital files Apple Music Soundcloud/
(Streaming music, not iTunes) SoundCloud Go

Question: Which, if any, of the following have you used in order to

listen to audio content (music or speech) for five minutes or more at
any one time during the last seven days?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

DEVICE LISTENING REFLECTS

FM/AM radio receiver Cellphone / Smartphone
Desktop computer Laptop or netbook
In-car phone audio connection (wired aux cable / wireless) Satellite Radio Receiver NET
CD player Net Wireless speakers (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Airport enabled speaker)

FORMAT CONSUMPTION
iPod Other Net*

Please note: in-car and standalone FM/AM, SHARE OF LISTENING: TOP DEVICES
Satellite Radio devices and CD player devices
FM/AM radio receiver Cellphone/Smartphone Desktop computer Laptop or netbook In-car audio connection Satellite Radio Receiver NET CD player NET
have been netted here.
Wireless speakers (Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, etc.) iPod Other NET

Hip-Hop, Pop and Dance

fans dedicated most of their
Total 30 25 7 6 6 6 5 3 3 11
listening time to Smartphone/
Cellphones - the device
accounted for 35% of both
Dance fans’ and Hip-Hop fans’ Classic Rock 32 21 8 6 5 8 6 3 3 12
listening time - whilst the
national average was 25%.
Country fans over-indexed on listening Pop Music 28 27 7 7 6 5 4 3 3 11
to the FM/AM Radio receiver, dedicating
36% of their total listening time to the
device (compared to the 30% national
average). Simultaneously, Hip-Hop and
Dance fans under-indexed on listening Country/Western 36 22 6 5 5 6 5 3 2 12
to the same device.

Hip-Hop/Rap 20 35 6 7 8 4 3 4 2 10

Electronic Dance/EDM 16 35 9 11 7 5 3 3 2 11

Question: To the nearest 15 minutes, how is your music split between

the following devices?
*Other NET includes: ‘Other’, Tablet, Television, Vinyl Player, PlayStation,
Voice activated Smart Speaker, Xbox and Smartwatch
Base: 2,494
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

POP FANS DISCOVER MUSIC

THROUGH YOUTUBE AND RADIO
All genre categories over-indexed on most TOP MEANS OF DISCOVERY
methods of discovery. Pop, Dance and
Hip-Hop fans particularly over-indexed on Total Classic Rock Pop Music Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM

music discovery through YouTube, music

56 57 56
videos on TV, music played in films/TV 54 53
46 48 46
shows/video games, music suggested
41
through YouTube and Spotify (playlists/
33 34 35 35 34
similar artists etc.), and music videos 30 32 31
29 27 29 29
26
shared on Facebook recommendations 22 23
by an artist/celebrity.

Music played on FM/AM Radio YouTube Recommendations from friends Music played in films/TV shows

32
29 27 28
25 25 24
17 20 20 18 20 19
17 17 15 16 14 17 16
13 14 13 14

Playlists on streaming services Music videos linked from YouTube Browsing “Similar Artists’ on Music played on Internet Radio
(Spotify, Apple Music etc.) (through the sidebar, or recommended) Streaming Services

16 17 19 16
12 14 13 14 13 12 13 15 11 14
10 9 8 9 10 10 8 11 9 8

Music videos shared in Facebook Live performances from TV programmes Music videos on TV Live performances from gigs/festivals

Question: How
do you typically
discover music?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

YOUTUBE & STREAMING SERVICES

MAIN ‘GO-TO’ SOURCES POST DISCOVERY
Respondents were then asked, ‘GO TO' SOURCE POST DISCOVERY

once they had discovered a Total Pop Music Classic Rock Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM
new piece of music they like,
32
what their ‘go to’ source was 30
36
YouTube
to listen to it. Respondents 26
43
41
could choose one option only.
24
Main ’go to’ post-discovery sources were, 25
Wait for it to be played on the radio 17
tellingly, largely reflective of the overall 30
9
music consumption habits of different 9

genre fans. Dance and Hip-Hop fans, being 21

20
more digitally inclined, over indexed A music streaming service you use 26
(Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer etc.) 20
significantly on YouTube (41% and 43% 35
32
respectively) and a music streaming
service they subscribe to (32% and 35%). 9
11
Whereas, Country fans were much more 11
Pay to download it 10
inclined to wait for it to be played on the (from iTunes etc.) 7
8
radio (30% compared to the 24% national
7
average). 8
Buy it on CD or Vinyl 4
7
2
2
Total
3
4
Download it for free 3
Classic Rock (BitTorrent, stream ripping sites etc.) 4
1
1
Pop Music 1
3
SoundCloud 2
Country/Western 2
2
5
Question: Once you
Hip-Hop/Rap 5
have discovered a
new piece of music
0 that you like, what
Other 1
would you say is
Electronic Dance/ 0
1 your ‘go to’ source

EDM 2 to listen to it?

Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

SINGLES, ALBUMS
OR PLAYLISTS?
Apart from an under-index LISTENING BY SOURCE

among Hip-Hop fans, Listening Single/Individual Tracks Albums Playlists (On streaming services etc)
to singles remained similar
across the different genre fans.

EDM and Hip-Hop fans under-

Total 54 18 28
indexed on listening to
albums, whilst significantly
over-indexing on listening to Classic Rock 56 18 26
playlists.

Pop Music 53 16 32

Country/Western 55 17 28

Hip-Hop/Rap 50 16 35

Electronic Dance/EDM 53 15 32

Question: How
is your music
spilt amongst the
following?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

HIP-HOP
& EDM
MUSIC SPENDING

Total Classic Rock Pop Music Country/Western Hip-Hop/Rap Electronic Dance/EDM Question: Which of the following music
products have you acquired/bought for
yourself in the past 6 months?
16 Base: 3,000
19

FANS
17
CD Albums/Singles 18
16
14

15

ARE BIG
17
MP3/Download 20
singles/tracks 15
18
23

SPENDERS
15
18
Tickets for music/ 18
15
concerts/gigs 20
22

11
11
All of the genre categories MPS/Download 12
albums 10
over-indexed on spending on 15
16
most music related products.
5
Dance fans and Hip-Hop fans bought the Music Merchandise 7
6
most music related products out of the items (e.g. t-shirts, 4
posters, etc) 9
genres tested - whilst 44% of the total
10
sample had purchased a music related
product over the past 6 months, 53% of 4
6
Dance fans and 52% of Hip-Hop fans did 5
Tickets for festivals 5
the same.
7
8
.
4
5
4
Vinyl Albums 4
5
7

56
52
None 49
54
48
47
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

A THIRD OF HIP-HOP & EDM FANS

HAD A PAID SUBSCRIPTION
Reflective of their higher PAID / PREM IUM M USIC STREAM ING SUBSCRIPTIONS

spend, approximately a third Yes No, but I use someone else’s account No, but I have access via a family plan that someone else pays for No Don’t Know/Not sure
of EDM and Hip-Hop/Rap fans
had a paid subscription to
a music streaming service. Total 19 3 3 17 4
A significant over-index in
comparison to the national
average (19%).
Classic Rock 18 3 3 74 3

Pop Music 22 3 4 68 3

Country/Western 17 3 3 72 5

Hip-Hop/Rap 32 3 3 57 4

Electronic Dance/EDM 34 3 3 57 2

Question: Do you
pay for a premium
subscription to a
music streaming
service?
Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

CLASSIC ROCK, POP & COUNTRY

FANS UNSURE ABOUT HI-RES
27% of dance fans and 30% LIKELINESS TO PAY FOR HIGH-RESOLUTION AUDIO

of Hip-Hop fans said they

I would definitely be prepared to pay a premium I would be likely to pay a premium
would be at least likely to pay I would consider paying a premium I would be unlikely to pay a premium
a premium for music of a I would definitely not pay a premium
superior sound quality, much
higher than the survey average Total 9 11 29 25 27
(20%).

Classic Rock 8 11 31 27 23

Pop Music 9 13 33 25 20

Country/Western 6 12 28 29 25

Hip-Hop/Rap 15 15 36 19 16

Electronic Dance/EDM 14 13 37 21 16

Base: 3,000
 CONSUMPTION BY GENRE HOW DIFFERENT FANS CONSUME MUSIC

THANK YOU

For more information on this report, questions

or data queries, please contact our Music and
Entertainment Research Lead at
robert@audiencenet.co.uk

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