Research shows that gamers stream music more often than those subscribed to music platforms
The 2021 study by MIDiA Research, Music & Gaming A New Way to Play, polled 9,000 consumers throughout North America, Europe, South Korea, and Brazil and found that gamers, compared to all other groups, spent the most time on average streaming music per week. That amounted to an extra 36 minutes weekly compared to subscribers of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music.
According to the findings, weekly music streaming for gamers was 7.6 hours, and 6.9 hours for streaming service subscribers. Over 50% of gamers also reported listening to music for more than 11 hours per week.
Why are gamers listening to more music than others?
One possible reason is that video game players often spend lengthy periods immersed in their favourite games. Including music as a co-activity alongside gaming is an excellent way to enhance the game simulation, which may improve the player’s mood and ability to focus. Nowadays, many gamers livestream their game playing online to audiences on platforms like Twitch. On these platforms, incorporating music whilst live-streaming can be a tool to help gamers engage with their audiences.
What are the opportunities for gaming platforms, artists and rights owners?
Deloitte’s Digital Media Trends poll showed that 32% of Gen Z gamers go on to look up the songs they hear in games; this presents an opportunity for artists to leverage gaming platforms to expand the reach of their music and, in turn, generate more income.
It is also now standard practice for gaming platforms to offer a variety of monetised perks and options to elevate their user’s experience. Gamers have grown accustomed to making in-game purchases and spending money on gaming-related activities such as tipping their favourite streamers live. These activities help generate millions of dollars annually for an industry which the World Economic Forum reported will reach $321 billion by 2026.
The concept of users applying this willingness to spend on musical features that are proving integral to their gaming presents an opportunity for the music industry to take advantage.
One apparent option for achieving this would be to present more integrated ways for gamers to experience music without leaving their gaming environment. A company working towards this goal is Reactional Music, which has recently partnered with Hipgnosis Song Management to make music available for gaming. In addition to this, Reactional Music has collaborated with Blokur to handle it’s music rights administration, demonstrating its commitment to legal compliance and responsible management.
Blokur’s involvement with gaming-related companies also extends to it’s work for an undisclosed international video game publisher with over 100 games.
The fact that over 50% of gamers spend more than 11 hours streaming music presents game creators with opportunities to harness the power of music to maximise their users’ experience.
With recent news focusing on the hardships game creators go through with acquiring licences, it’s understandable why some developers might be cautious about using commercial music within their games. However, Blokur has made licensing music catalogues a lot easier with a straightforward one-stop-shop approach to music licensing.
If you’d like to learn more about how Blokur can help you get great quality music on your gaming platform, contact us today!
