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Is YouTube the New Radio?
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For programmers and others in the U.S. radio music biz, it’s all about
“music discovery” these days. With so many new channels and devices available, programmers often are asking themselves, “How are American consumers finding
music now, compared to the old days when radio played such a large role?”
A new report from Nielsen is likely to get close attention. If you are so inclined, you can find either good or bad news in it.
The company says that while radio is still “the
dominant way people discover music” -- ahead of tips from friends and relatives
or other sources -- there’s also a demographic landmine in the fact that “more
teens listen to music through YouTube than through any other source.” At 64%, the number outpaces radio as well as iTunes and CDs.
The study is called
Music 360 and explores listening and purchasing behaviors; music discovery;
live events; the use of social networking and mobile music apps; and how the
economy affects music sales.
As Nielsen’s David
Bakula sees it, the proliferation of choices is great for the consumer (who “continues to access and
enjoy music in greater numbers”). But the youth trend is likely to be seen as a challenge to
managers of any platforms that aren’t what Nielsen describes as “technologically
advanced” but “rather traditional.”
Still, a primary theme of the study is, as Bakula stated
in the announcement: “Traditional methods of discovery like radio and
word-of-mouth continue to be strong drivers.” That is a message radio managers can put to use immediately.
The sample
was 3,000 online consumer surveys using a proprietary “ePanel.” The research
company said it is releasing a “high-level overview report” to various industry
players to “stimulate discussion,” and is offering more details, presumably on
a fee basis, on request.
Nielsen released the
following summary:
Radio is still the
dominant way people discover music
48% discover music most often through the radio
10% discover
music most often through friends/relatives
7% discover music most
often through YouTube
More
teens listen to music through YouTube than through any other source
64% of teens listen to music through YouTube
56% of teens listen to music on the radio
53% of teens listen
to music through iTunes
50% of teens listen to music on CD
Positive recommendations from a friend are most
likely to influence purchase decisions
54% are more likely to make a purchase based off
a positive recommendation from a friend
25% are more likely to make
a purchase based off a music blog/chat rooms
12% are more likely to
make a purchase based off an endorsement from a brand
8% of all
respondents share music on social networking sites, while 6% upload music.
Music player apps are most prevalent, followed
by radio and music store apps
54% have music player apps on their smartphones
47% have radio apps on their smartphones
26% have music store
apps on their smartphones
Males
purchase rock music most often, while females prefer top 40
38% of males purchase rock most often
15% of females (compared to 9% of males) purchase top 40 most often
Digital music is seen as a slightly better value
than a physical CD
63%
of purchasers identified digital albums as a very or fairly good value
61% identified digital tracks as a very or fairly good value
55%
identified physical CDs as a very or fairly good value
Younger
consumers who do buy digital tracks, are more likely to purchase new music
immediately after its release
33% of teens purchased a digital track within
one week of release
21% of persons 18+ purchased a digital track
within one week of release
36%
of teens have bought a CD in the last year; 51% of teens have purchased some
kind of music download
18-24 year olds are most likely
to attend a music event (among those who attend any type of live event)
7% attending once a week or more
30%
attending once a month
Although
18-24 year olds attend more live events, teens are more likely to purchase
T-shirts and posters while there.
54% (compared to 46% of 18-24 year olds) of teen
attendees purchase concert tees
14% (compared to 7% of 18-24 year
olds) of teen attendees purchase concert posters
Listeners
enjoy hearing movie soundtracks over music related TV shows or video games
42% enjoy hearing music via music related TV
show
59% enjoy hearing music via movie soundtracks
28%
enjoy hearing music via music related video games
Older
consumers have decreased their spending the most during the current economy
41% of respondents 55+ reduced their spending to
a large degree
39% of respondents 45-54 reduced their spending to a
large degree
Only 28% of respondents age 25-34 reduced their
spending to a large degree
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