Consumers choose music listening as their top form of entertainment and most of that occurs in the car.
That’s the gist of Nielsen’s latest Music 360 report, which indicates 93% of the country’s population listens to music, spending more than 25 hours each week tuning into their favorite tunes.
When surveyed about their activities in the past year, 75% of respondents said they actively chose to listen to music, even ahead of watching television at 73%.
Nearly a quarter of all music listening (23%) happens when we’re behind the wheel; and listening at work or when doing chores at home both account for around 15% of our weekly time spent with music. Following the car, listening to music in the office or at home came in second at 16%, followed by listening at home while completing chores and background listening.
Radio is the top platform for music consumption, as 59% of music listeners use a combination of over-the-air AM/FM or online radio streams to tune into their favorite artists and bands each week. Other favored platforms include consumers’ own music libraries (48%), on-demand streaming services such as Spotify, YouTube or Vevo (41%), and curated streaming music services such as Pandora or iTunes Radio (36%).
Smartphones are the third most-popular device used to listen to music behind radio and computers. More than 7 in 10 Americans now own a smartphone, according to the data, with 39% of smartphone owners buying music on their device in 2014. That’s up from 34% a year ago.
