Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Cream / Whatevs New Study Says We Don't Listen to Music the Way We Think We Listen
Posted by Steve Haruch on Tue, Nov 10, 2009 at 12:29 PM
Glenn Peoples reports over at Billboard on a new Nielsen study that, as he puts it, "dispels many of the myths about how people today listen to music." For example:
Myth: Nobody listens to CDs anymore.CDs and cassette tapes are second in reach (behind broadcast radio) and get an average of 72 minutes per day from users. CDs represented 16.1% of daily listening time in the study, over twice that of satellite radio and over three times the share of portable MP3 players. CD listening is higher for consumers with lower incomes and less education. However, the reach of CD listening is the same whether or not the listener is technology oriented.
I think we've all made the "Radio? Who listens to radio?" joke around these bloggy parts before, but broadcast radio apparently "has a 79.1% reach and gets an average of 122 minutes per day from listeners." Zoinks.
I'm not surprised that the study's findings don't line up with my listening habits. (By virtue of my job I get a lot more music given to me for free than most peoples.) But they do seem awfully far off from my perception of How Things Are Now--maybe because I'm part of a self-selecting group of organic produce-eating wannabe elitists with iPhones and ironic gym shorts. The study says half of peoples 18-24 listen to CDs daily, averaging 78 minutes with the format. Myself, I want vinyl or MP3 (preferably both). But I'm also a dork. Then again--most of the music I get does come on CD still, so maybe my actual listening habits aren't the same as my desired listening habits.
I was very surprised to see this:
Myth: The Internet is where people discover music.The two ways to listen to music on a computer - a saved file or streamed audio - represented very little of the study's listening hours. Files accounted for only 4.1% of the study's total daily listening. Streamed audio amounted to only 3.8%. The daily reach of each was about 10%.
That seems way out of step with people I know. Then again, the people I know are the people I know, and not necessarily the norm. Also, the study says people still listen to CDs, but elsewhere the numbers are more than clear on the fact that people aren't buying as many CDs. Seems to me there's something this new study isn't telling us.
How about you--do MP3s and other music files make up more than 4.1% of your daily listening, or what?
[Billboard via The Daily Swarm.]
Comments (13)
Showing 1-13 of 13
Of course I see tons of people still buying CDs and vinyl (thank god) but there's no way to know how this pro-active contingent stacks up against the general public since the general public rarely ventures into Grimey's.
I'd be curious to know how the sample was taken for the study. Did they use traditional polling like politics does? That is land line phone-based and somewhere I read that 60% or so of young people have no land line and use cell phones exclusively so they're not included in most polling. if that's the case here, that might account for the results seeming skewed.
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You want a toe? I can get you a toe, believe me. There are ways, Dude. You don't wanna know about it, believe me.
Good point, Doyle. Polls are distorted, time wasters unless you know who is being polled. If they're cold calling your Grandmother during dinner time about her music listening habits, the results will certainly be a little skewed.
I think people's listening habits depend on a number of factors outside of which way the wind is blowing in the industry. I would assume that the % of time spent listening to mp3s would be much higher with the younger crowd. Much more so than this study suggests.
It also stands to reason that anyone in the 18-24 age range who still has a land line might not be on the cutting edge of music technology (i.e. if you haven't gotten on the cellphone bandwagon you might not own an ipod). You mom probably still jams out contemporary radio and her Eagles Greatest Hits CD but I wouldn't say that applies to the younger demographic.
I actually rocked my Hatful Of Hollow cassette yesterday in the car. It was awesome.
I listen almost exclusively to mp3s due to convenience, but I throw on the occasional record or CD.
I don't do radio at all anymore (even WRVU). Not sure why. Lack of patience for music I don't like, perhaps -- I'm an intolerant old man now.
So I guess I'm not falling in with the general public either. Which is fine by me. The general public can have all the Maroon 5 & Jon & Kate Plus Eight they want.
well our semi-monthly cassette series always sells out (the new one is Pujol's "Ringo Where Art Thou?") so maybe cassette's are the missing link? and vinyl (new Natural Child 7")!
we couldn't sell either without the Grimey's of the world and by the way we don't have a land line either so no one's asking us.
cassettes! vinyl! cassettes!
Cassettes are awesome. Except my copy of The Boys R Back In Town, which sounded like garbage on side two. So I bought it again on iTunes. Stopped short of buying it again on vinyl.
Still, yes, cassettes. Don't forget.
i bought the Natty Child 7", but already digitized it and put it on my iPod.
I listen to a lot of what used to be vinyl, but is now mp3. i have a stack of CD's 4ft high and 3ft wide in my bedroom and occasionally i pull something from the archives for a listen, but more than likely, i'll rip it to mp3.
i also have a box of about 150 cassettes i cull from occasionally.i've experimented with ripping them to mp3, but results have varied.
i'm gonna go ahead and say i'm at least 90% mp3. and 5% vinyl, cassette, and CD. i fucking hate CD's.
Curmudgeon that I am, it's 60% radio, 20% CD, 10% vinyl, 5% computer (where did that come from?) & 5% live.
I don't own an MP3 player...never have. I'm not sure I ever will. Probably, I guess; but I really don't like the sound of them.
All that said, I'm not really a consumer, per se. I buy almost all my CDs used. I haven't bought a record in 20 years, and that was probably used as well. Also, some percentage of music listening is from DVD or TV. I'm not sure how much. I also don't fit the demo you're looking at--since I'm 57.
90% CDs
5% Radio
5% MP3 player
I still listen to CDs in my car, and really only use my ipod when I go out for a run. I still buy CDs so I can have the flexibility of playing it where I want to, like my car or stereo, or putting it on the ipod. My internet connection is poor, but I haven't bothered upgrading b/c I spend all day on a computer, and don't really want to get back on one when I get home.
b/c I spend all day on a computer, and don't really want to get back on one when I get home
That's just crazy talk.
The ghostfinger van only plays tapes. No radio. That's a party. Our tape collection kicks Ýour ipod's ass. Just saying.
CDs and radio are king for me (WRVU, WPLN, WMOT, WMTS). I'd listen to a lot more on MP3 if I could afford to put a new stereo in my car that would accept a signal from my iPod (I'd prefer digital over analog, though those units are more expensive). My Honda has the antenna built into the windshield, so the reception with an FM transmitter is terrible.
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