People are consuming more music than ever before according to the latest music consumption research by the International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry.
Where music is being consumed hasn't changed a great deal since last year's study, with video sharing platforms again accounting for more or less the same consumption levels as streaming services, despite bringing in considerably less revenue for the music industry. And, the IFPI would like the world to know, while we don't talk so much about music piracy these days, "unlicensed music is still an issue".
"Fans are seizing the opportunities to listen to more music in more ways than they have ever done before”, says the global trade group's CEO Frances Moore. “However, the use of unlicensed music remains a significant issue for the music community, especially as technologies continue to evolve. We need to continue to do everything in our power to support and protect the value of music".
According to the IFPI's 'Engaging With Music' report, on average people spend 20.7 hours listening to music each week. That's up from 20.1 hours in 2022. This is based on responses from more than 43,000 people across 26 countries.
Streaming services - both premium and ad-funded - account for 32% of consumption, while video sharing platforms like YouTube and TikTok account for about 31%. Even though, according to the most recent record industry revenue figures from IFPI, paid-for streaming services brought in 48.3% of the cash, while ad-funded services - so both free-tier audio streaming and the video platforms - generated 18.7% of the revenue.
Of course, on the video-sharing services music is often part of rather than the entirety of the experience, and YouTube and TikTok et al would also stress that they deliver marketing value as well as revenue. However, plenty in the industry still reckon music is undervalued on the social media and user-generated content platforms.
As for where else music is being consumed, the IFPI stats also identify radio (17%), purchased music including CDs, vinyl and downloads (9%), live music (4%), and an ‘other’ category that includes TV, video-on-demand services like Netflix and recorded music played by friends (7%).
But what about piracy? "Unlicensed music continues to restrain a healthy music ecosystem", the report states, "diverting fans away from those who invest in and create it. Almost 29% reported using illegal or unlicensed methods to download and listen to music".
Stream-ripping remains the most common form of piracy, with 26% using platforms that allow you to grab permanent downloads of temporary streams - and that goes up to 41% among 16-24 year olds.
Of those who use stream-ripping platforms, 55% said that it was to avoid paying for a premium subscription on a streaming service, offline listening usually being restricting to the paid-for version of such services.
You can download this year’s 'Engaging With Music' report here.