A new streaming study was released at the Country Radio Seminar, Wednesday. And, there was a lot of good news for radio. The survey involved a wide group of audio listeners in the United States (ages 18-54) and focused on those who listen to country music at least once per month and those that use either a free or paid streaming service. Here are highlights from the study…
One very positive number from the research was that 70% of country music streamers also listen to radio. And, 54% of those streamers still listen to radio daily. So, you are not losing listeners to streaming apps.
The study also focused on what listeners want to see more of from their radio station apps.
The top four items listeners want more of are: better recommendations, more newly released music, more artists that are not currently available, and more in-app artist ads and promotions. The study also emphasized that listeners may not even know you have an app, and stations need to do a better job promoting them. The app also needs to be easy to use. When listeners hit the app, the stream should come right up, without the user having to click back and forth several times (see the 98.5 The Sports Hub app as a great example of an app easy to use). In other words, make it as simple as possible.
On the downside, the study revealed that if audio listeners are using one of the big guys (Spotify, Pandora, Apple etc.) they are using them more. 60% of non-radio app users are very satisfied with their streaming experience while only 44% of users of radio stations apps are very satisfied. Once a user is paying for an app and they are happy with their experience, that is hard to undo. The good news, two-thirds of the time people are hearing songs for the first time on the radio before they even turn to streaming.
What about the non-streamers?
The conclusion is these people are radio listeners. And the reasons they do not stream, which are very important to keep in mind, are: they do not like paying, they do not understand the benefits of streaming, they can’t afford the service, and radio meets all of their audio needs.
The study was commissioned by the Country Music Association, who present a research study every year at CRS. They hired Magid & Associates to do the study, and all the details were available to attendees, and I’m sure the CMA will make the research available to its members as well.
Who conducted the sudy?
As a reader, I believe that it is important to know who did this new study, what the sample was, how it was recruited, how the study was conducted (online?) and when it was in fact conducted. Without that necessary methodological detail it is impossible to know if the research is valid and reliable. I think the company who conducted the research would agree with me and I think the radio industry would benefit knowing this info. Thank you.