Technology

A Visual Breakdown of Global Music Consumption

Published

2 years ago

February 6, 2023

Athul Alexander

Featured Creator

Article/Editing:

Pallavi Rao

This image shows a breakdown of platforms music listeners prefer to use.

A Visual Breakdown of Global Music Consumption

To maximize any chance of success in the music business, aspiring artists must gain an understanding of how music is consumed and how that is changing alongside technology.

This graphic from Athul Alexander highlights global music consumption habits. Data is from 2022 and is sourced from a survey of over 44,000 people from 22 countries by IFPI that asked people their primary mode for consuming music.

As of 2022, paid subscription services (i.e. Apple Music, Spotify) are the most preferred option for listeners, accounting for nearly one-fourth of main platform share.

Rank	Service	Share	Examples
1	Paid Audio Streaming	24%	Spotify, Apple Music
2	Video Streaming	19%	YouTube
3	Radio	17%
4	Purchased Music	10%	Vinyls, CDs, purchased digital albums
5	Ad-Supported Audio Streaming	8%	Amazon, Deezer
6	Short-form Videos	8%	TikTok
7	Social Media Videos	5%	Facebook, Instagram
8	Live Music	4%	concerts, livestreams
9	Other	6%	music on TV, phone-to-phone transfers

Short-form video platforms like TikTok, with an 8% share of primary music listeners, are a fast-growing medium. Several young artists have found initial success and traction using these platforms over the past few years.

And though video “killed the radio star,” it hasn’t killed listening to music on the radio. A healthy, 17% of respondents picked radio as their primary avenue for listening to music.

Streaming Supremacy and Virality

There’s no doubt that the internet has revolutionized how music is being consumed.

Including all video and music streaming, internet-based music consumption was the primary choice for 64% of respondents. That’s not even accounting for livestreams or music purchased through the internet.

Platform	Share
Internet-based	64%
Non-Internet Based	37%

This internet-heavy metric is being reflected on the business side as well, with 75% of the music industry’s revenues in the U.S. coming from streaming.

However, for artists, streaming revenue is usually the third-biggest earner after live performances and sales.

But utilizing streaming to its fullest potential keeps modern artists in the loop. For example, Beyoncé was one of the first artists to utilize streaming platforms to release an album completely unannounced in 2013, a marketing move that has been replicated many times since.

Where does this data come from?

Source: IFPI

Data note: IFPI surveyed over 44,000 people from 22 countries, asking them about their primary mode of consuming music. They exclude India and China from their global figures to prevent the size of the population from influencing the global weighted average. Percentages may also not add up to 100 because of rounded figures.

This article was published as a part of Visual Capitalist's Creator Program, which features data-driven visuals from some of our favorite Creators around the world.

Related Topics:Music consumption artists music business

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Gen Z

Visualizing Gen Z’s Favorite Social Media Platforms

Over 90% of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 have used YouTube. Which other social media platforms are popular among Gen Z?

Published

5 days ago

September 13, 2024

Kayla Zhu

Gen Z’s Top Social Media Platforms

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

Growing up as “digital natives,” Gen Zs have adopted a diverse range of social media platforms in their daily lives, ranging from niche interest websites like Pinterest to major social networks like Instagram and Facebook.

Over one-third of American Gen Zs spend over four hours a day on social media, according to a Morning Consult survey.

This chart visualizes the share of U.S. adults aged 18 to 29 that have used various social media platforms in 2023.

The data comes from a Pew Research survey conducted between May to September 2023.

What are Gen Z’s Favorite Social Media Platforms?

Below, we show the share of U.S. adults between the ages of 18 and 29 that have used the following social media platforms.

Platform	Share of U.S. adults (aged 18-29) who say they ever use...
YouTube	93%
Instagram	78%
Facebook	67%
Snapchat	65%
TikTok	62%
Pinterest	45%
Reddit	44%
X / Twitter	42%
LinkedIn	32%
WhatsApp	32%
BeReal	12%

Video-sharing platforms like YouTube and TikTok are highly favored by Gen Z, with both long-form and short-form content being widely consumed.

Watching videos, both streamed and downloaded, is the most common way Gen Zs spend their time online, according to EMARKETER. Over 96% of American Gen Zs watch videos online at least once a month.

Preferences for YouTube and TikTok are also seen among the younger half of Gen Z, as seen in this graphic. Over 38% of American teens between the ages of 13 and 17 use YouTube several times a day, and about one-third use TikTok several times a day.

Instagram and Snapchat are also particularly popular among younger adults, reflecting their strong preference for visual content.

Although only 12% of younger adults use BeReal, it is far more popular with them compared to older age groups. Just 3% of adults aged 30-49 use the app, and only 1% of those aged 50-64 have tried it.

While these platforms might just seem like social and entertainment hubs, they’re becoming information resources for younger generations as well, with over half of Gen Z choosing TikTok over Google as their preferred search engine, according to a Her Campus survey.

Learn More on the Voronoi App

To learn more about how Gen Zs spend their time online, check out this graphic that visualizes what forms of digital entertainment U.S. Gen Zs engage in the most.