Music Consumption: Which Way Now?

In his introduction to our ‘All About The Music 2018’ yearbook, BPI’s Chief Executive Geoff Taylor notes that while consumption via audio streaming is increasing – and driving revenue growth – so too is the quantity of vinyl LPs being bought. “Whilst it may seem counterintuitive to consider streaming and vinyl records as complementary formats,” he notes, “for both to be achieving such heights suggests that our industry is serving the diverse demands of music fans exceptionally well”.

It's an interesting point. For those who commentate on or work in the music industry there’s a tendency to concentrate on the innovations that are taking place. That’s natural inasmuch as everyone wants to know what the future holds - and how we need to plan for it. But for all the growth in (and discussion around) ‘access’ models, there is still a sizeable core of music lovers currently who like to own their music. The two methods of consumption are perhaps not so diametrically opposed either: data from Kantar’s Worldpanel survey published in ‘All About The Music’ shows that the proportion of music consumers who are buying music physically but also used premium tier streaming services actually increased in 2017. This may be people in the process of transitioning from purchasing to streaming, but it may also be evidence that streaming is fulfilling a purpose of convenience for some listeners but that they still prefer to buy the music they like the most.

There are a great many artists for whom streaming is a key part of their success and whose audiences are largely accessing their music through these platforms. Drake’s More Life claimed a place in the top 10 of the year-end albums chart without ever having been released on CD and streaming comprised well over half of the chart-eligible totals for new releases by artists such as Zara Larsson, The Chainsmokers, Halsey and Kendrick Lamar in 2017. Just recently Post Malone’s album Beerbongs & Bentleys went straight in at number one with a streaming share of over 80% - the biggest yet for a #1. But equally there are still a great many titles whose appeal is overwhelmingly acquisition-based. While gifting still plays an important role (according to Kantar around a third of physical albums are purchased as presents) there were several high profile non-Q4 releases (such as those by Rag’n’Bone Man, Take That, The Killers and Depeche Mode, as well as reissues by The Beatles and George Michael) whose chart-eligible total in 2017 was more than three-quarters physical. For some of the big Q4 releases this share rose to over 90%.

Music consumption is clearly at a transitional point. Kantar’s data shows that the share of music consumers who are streaming is rising, but that almost two thirds of consumers still made a physical or digital purchase. In addition, respondents to an Audiencenet survey in mid-2017 reported that, on average, they spent as much time listening to music that they had purchased as through on-demand audio streaming services. How the uptake of music streaming plays out will be affected by myriad factors, among them the popularity of smart speakers and whether (and when) voice-activated technology becomes commonplace in in-car entertainment systems. But it may be that the pleasure of having and enjoying a tangible music collection is something that a not insignificant group of music lovers is simply not willing to give up on - how to try and make sure that they are not ignored or left behind is perhaps one of the trickier challenges the industry will have to face.