During this March Infinite Dial has published the results of its annual survey for the US market and the Recording Industry Association of America, thus confirming with its report concerning the benefits of the music industry, the interest in radio streaming is increasing.
The online radio data
Streaming services are now 27% of total revenues of the music industry. Services like iTunes, Pandora or iTunes Radio have achieved revenues in 2014 higher for the first time than CD sales. This has made the music industry again interested in the payment models against the freemium solutions.
50% of young Americans consider radio a relevant medium in discovering new music.
Year after year the number of listeners increases, 36% of the population in 2014 claimed to have used the online radio last week and in 2015 this figure rises to 44%. When we talk about young people, between 12 and 24 years, the figure is 69%.
Regarding consumer habits, mobile use stands out, smartphones being the most commonly used device when listening to online radio. 73% of the population claimed to use it while using the computer falls from 64% last year to 61% this year.
Listeners consume radio anywhere, and in the case of radio is easier as their consumption is compatible with other tasks. Mobile becomes the new transistor and this advantage is exploited to conquer new spaces that online radio has not yet reached eg a car. If there is a tendency which includes the Edison Research survey is: 35% connect their phones to the car stereo to listen to online radio.
Online radio services are prepared:
In recent months we have noticed many movements in the international market for streaming audio, which are both cause and consequence of the evolution of these data.
According to the survey The Infinite Dial in the United States, the three most popular online audio streaming corporations are precisely those that stand out for their radio service: Pandora, iHeartRadio and iTunes Radio.
These data seem to be revolutionizing sector companies and continued updates of its services are producing. Last summer appeared the online music service Amazon Prime, which these days has been updated, featuring a Prime Radio service that improves the personalization of content in comparison to its competitors. Google Play Music is growing its catalog and is offering aggressive bids to attract new users. Spotify is improving its functions on recommendation and has enabled the use of the mobile app for free users but it still remains limited to the musical radio. Finally, it seems that Apple plans to join his iTunes Radio with the recently acquired Beats in the coming months.
Originally published at www.flumotion.com on March 25, 2015.
