If you are listening to music, chances are you're on YouTube.
A music consumer report by the industry's global body IFPI published on Oct 9 found that 86% of us listen to music through on-demand streaming.
And nearly half that time, 47% is spent on YouTube.
Video as a whole accounted for 52% 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 US$20 (RM83.07), YouTube's was less than a dollar (four ringgit).
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 on Oct 9 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%.
The highest levels were recorded in India, where 96% of consumers used smartphones for music, including 99% of young adults.
But music does not end when we put away our phones, with 86% globally also listening to radio.
Copyright infringement was still a big issue, with unlicensed music accounting for 38% 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 user-upload services," said IFPI chief Frances Moore.
The report noted that "96% of consumers in China and 96% in India listen to licensed music".
It did not, however, say how many of those consumers also listened to music that infringed copyrights.
Overall, the average consumer spent 2.5 hours a day listening to music, with the largest share of it consumed while driving, the industry report said. – AFP Relaxnews
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