Streaming and Radio Listening Habits for 2021 – Report

Photo Credit: Will Francis

A new report highlights how Gen Z is driving music streaming growth – but don’t count out traditional radio, either.

Digital Music News has covered the rise of music streaming, often to the detriment of artists. Gen Z is the generation that has embraced music streaming the most, with nearly 60% saying they stream music daily. It’s an important look at how each generation is consuming audio content and which platform they prefer.

A new report detailing US Media Consumption looked at several factors that have changed American adult behavior since the pandemic. It reveals that for the first time, more Americans are streaming video content than watching live TV. But it also contains some important insights into how 18-24 year-olds interact with audio content.

A whopping 63% of Gen Z respondents said they listen to streamed music daily. 56% of that same category (18-24) said they have never listened to an audio book. And 44% say they have never listened to a single podcast. Around 22% of Gen Z respondents said they listen to radio daily.

That means music streaming and traditional radio are the two most popular ways Gen Z enjoys audio content.

Spotify’s big push into podcasts isn’t to capture more of the younger generation. They’re already there. Instead, Spotify hopes its increased spoken word offering will appeal to the millennial generation and older. Spotify commands a healthy lead among music streaming services with Gen Z, but that lead diminishes among older generations.

Gen Z Music Streamers Preferred Platform

1. Spotify – 68.4%
2. Apple Music – 32.9%
3. YouTube Music – 30.4%
4. SoundCloud – 26.6%
5. Amazon Music – 7.6%
6. Google Play Music – 7.6%
7. Don’t Stream – 3.6%
8. Other – 1.3%

Millennial Music Streamers Preferred Platform

1. Spotify – 42.6%
2. YouTube Music – 42.1%
3. Amazon Music – 28.7%
4. Apple Music – 24.2%
5. Google Play Music – 16.8%
6. SoundCloud – 11%
7. Don’t Stream – 9.1%
8. Other – 7.6%

Gen X Music Streamers Preferred Platform

1. YouTube Music – 28.9%
2. Spotify – 26.9%
3. Don’t Stream – 26.5%
4. Amazon Music – 23.5%
5. Other – 11.2%
6. Apple Music – 10.5%
7. Google Play Music – 7.1%
8. SoundCloud – 4.1%

Baby Boomers Music Streamers Preferred Platform

1. Don’t Stream – 53.6%
2. YouTube Music – 16.9%
3. Amazon Music – 16.5%
4. Spotify – 11.4%
5. Other – 11%
6. Google Play Music – 4.6%
7. Apple Music – 4.2%
8. SoundCloud – 0.8%

Google Play Music has since shut down, so those respondents have likely migrated to YouTube Music or another service. What’s also interesting about this report data is how SoundCloud is prevalent among Gen Z music streamers, but nearly non-existent among baby boomers.

[US Media Consumption Report – 2021]