YouTube driving music consumption

Video as a whole accounted for 52% of the time we spent streaming music

If you are listening to music, chances are you’re on YouTube. A music consumer report by the industry’s global body IFPI published yesterday found that 86 per cent of us listen to music through ondemand streaming.

Nearly half that time, 47 per cent is spent on YouTube.

Video as a whole accounted for 52 per cent of the time we spent streaming music, posing challenges to such subscription services as Spotify and SoundCloud. But while Spotify’s estimated annual revenue per user was $20 (Dh73.46; €17.5), YouTube’s was less than a dollar.

listen to music via on-demand streaming

of consumers in India used phones to listen to music

Broad overview

The London-based IFPI issued a broader overview in April that found digital sales for the first time making up the majority of global revenues thanks to streaming.

The report published yesterday looked into where and when we listen to music.

It found that three in four people globally use smartphones, with the rate among 16 to 24 year olds reaching 94 per cent. The highest levels were recorded in India, where 96 per cent of consumers used smartphones for music, including 99 per cent of young adults. But music does not end when we put away our phones, with 86 per cent globally also listening to radio.

Copyright infringement was still a big issue, with unlicensed music accounting for 38 per cent of what was consumed around the world.

“This report also shows the challenges the music community continues to face — both in the form of the evolving threat of digital copyright infringement as well as in the failure to achieve fair compensation from some userupload services,” said IFPI chief Frances Moore.

The report noted that “96 per cent of consumers in China and 96 per cent in India listen to licensed music”. It did not, however, say how many of those consumers also listened to music that infringed copyrights.