The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has released its Music Consumer Insight Report 2018. The study examines how consumers in key demographics engage with recorded music across twenty of the world’s largest markets for music.
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86% streaming music
57% of 16-24-year-olds using a paid audio streaming service
33% still pirate music
The report underscores how on-demand music streaming has become the pre-eminent way consumers access recorded music, with 86% of us listen to music via streaming.
Another major finding: young music consumers are most engaged streamers, with 57% of 16-24-year-olds using a paid audio streaming service.
The report also revealed that despite the increasingly global reach of the recorded music industry that local tastes still played a huge role. For example, 66% of consumers in Japan are listening to J-Pop, while 69% of consumers in France are streaming Variété Française and, in Brazil, 55% of music consumers listening to música popular Brasileira.
The report also highlighted the impact of legal streaming on music piracy. Per the report, regions such as China and India have seen 96% of music consumers turning to licensed platforms for streaming.
But worldwide, copyright infringement remains a significant issue: More than one-third (38%) of consumers obtain music through infringing methods – with stream ripping the dominant method (32% of consumers), according to the IFPI.
“Record companies are working with their partners to sustain and develop these rich and diverse ways in which music is being enjoyed, ensuring that it continues on its exciting journey around the world,” said IFPI CEO Frances Moore.
“However, 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. Policymakers around the globe have been scrutinizing these issues and increasingly acting to address them,” he added.