How to avoid hitting a bum note with online music lovers
As the debate rages over the rights and wrongs of online music streaming, Kantar Media’s Anna Gunn pauses to examine the actual users – explaining their behaviours and motivations.
Music streaming is becoming ever more popular and with Spotify recently celebrating its fifth birthday, Kantar Media is taking a look at who uses music streaming sites, why they behave the way they do and how marketers can reach them.
TGI Clickstream reveals that almost six million people stream music through Spotify. The data combines the full range of offline consumer insight from Kantar Media’s TGI study with metered internet usage (sites visited, time spent, number of visits etc.) from almost 5,000 respondents (rising to 10,000 by 2015), providing a complete understanding of consumers’ lives.
TGI Clickstream further reveals that 60% of people who stream music online, stream exclusively from Spotify, compared to 13% who stream from Soundcloud.
In total, 19% of adults (aged 15+) in Britain listen to music streaming sites and the vast majority (12%) use Spotify. Insights from TGI reveal that 79% of people who listen to music streaming services usually do so for up to three hours or less in a week. Interestingly, 42% of adults who listen to music streaming sites enjoy listening to new bands.
Under 24s are the predominant users of music streaming sites. 27% of them visit such sites, making them 71% more likely than the average British adult to do so. This age group are twice as likely to have used spotify.com in the last four weeks.
However, 53% of under 24s have used vevo.com for music streaming in the last four weeks, making them just over three times more likely to do so. Similarly, visitors to soundcloud.com are twice as likely to be under 24 (39%).
Those who listen to music streaming sites are more likely to be frivolous spenders than savers”
‘Nest Builders’ (aged 15-34, married or living as a couple, do not live with son or daughter) are 79% more likely than the average adult to listen to music streaming sites. Similarly, Fledglings (15-34, not married, no children and living with own parents) are 76% more likely to do so.
Clearly both life stages look demographically similar, though interestingly there is quite a clear gender split. Of people who listen to music streaming sites, 59% are men.
Those who listen to music streaming sites are more likely to be frivolous spenders than savers, as 35% of them admit they are no good at saving money. ‘Music’ to marketers’ ears, perhaps.
In addition, this group are 59% more likely than the average adult in Britain to rate convenience as more important than price when internet shopping, again highlighting that price is little barrier to purchase decisions.
Though this group might be frivolous, they do research products before purchase and are review-led in their purchase decisions, as 77% of them engage in online research before purchase.
Interestingly, even though this group is not necessarily restrained by budget when making purchase decisions, they are not as carefree in their spending as may at first be assumed. They are 30% more likely than the average person to shop around online before making a purchase.
On the whole, this group is interested in fashion and designer labels, being 38% more likely than the average adult to believe that a designer label improves a person’s image. 17% of adults who listen to music streaming sites also wear designer clothes. Similarly, a quarter of this group like to keep up with the latest fashions.
This is very much in line with their interest in technology, as TGI reveals that 66% of them like to keep up with the latest technology. Marketers would do well to tap in to this tech-savvy and fashion forward outlook to connect with this group.
28% of users of music streaming sites are amongst the heaviest fifth of internet users, making them 65% more likely than the average adult to be so. Additionally, 25% of them agree that online adverts influence the brands they buy, highlighting the influence they are susceptible to online.
Furthermore, Kantar Media’s TGI reveals that 19% of these music lovers who engage a great deal with the internet listen to podcasts online, equating to just under two million adults. Those who listen to music streaming sites are almost three times more likely than the average adult to view and download paid-for films and documentaries online.
Technology sites also rate highly with this group of music lovers, with 28% of them visiting technology sites in the last month alone. These are just some of what this group are actually doing on the internet and could inform efficient ways to target this audience online for the canny marketer.
Though adults who listen to music streaming sites are not as engaged with television as a media channel, they engage with online TV streaming. 35% of them have watched live TV programmes online in the last six months, making them twice as likely as the average to do so.
Additionally, 21% of music lovers who stream music online are amongst the heaviest fifth of cinema users. 22% of adults who stream music online have watched action adventure films in the last six months.