The Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) has just released its statistics from a survey based around music consumption in which 2,025 Australians participated.
The questions were based around five main topics: listening to albums, YouTube, live music, music discovery and radio. Safe to say, some results were pretty eye opening.
The VMDO survey results on music consumerism highlight the force of YouTube in our everyday music discovery and consumption.
There are the uplifting results, for instance 1 in 3 agree music is their number one passion, 40% of the population believe finding new music is important, and that a majority of Aussies prefer live and local music. Entirety of albums were listened to by hard rock, folk and jazz fans whereas singles did better with pop and country consumers. These are interesting reads but not the crux of data received.
When questioned more closely on how we listen to music, the medium is still dominated by radio, with 48% of the population agreeing, however closely followed in a tie between people who still listen to CDs and streaming with 44%. Surprisingly streaming has not yet surpassed the popular CDs, but it will only be a matter of time despite the 17% of surveyors claiming they do not reject the format and see themselves as prospective buyers.
In regards to streaming services, there is no comparison in popularity between YouTube and other streaming entities. The powerhouse that is YouTube knocks it out of the park with 40% as their preferential streaming service compared to runner-up Spotify free with only 21%, and Spotify premium with 16%. This revelation creates a shift of thinking towards YouTube, legitimising the company as a streaming competitor with plenty more to offer than just cat videos.
What about when you discover a new track? The survey informs us we’re more likely to find new music either on the radio or Youtube and no matter where we find it, the data proves we will then stream the artist on YouTube before anywhere else. It is also the format that reaches the most amount of fans when looking for music news.
What does this all mean? Our consumerist behaviours like free, accessible music and standby formats like radio and CDs despite the booming streaming phenomenon.
Check out the full results from VMDO’s survey here.
