Brands chasing listeners on streaming music services may be throwing money at those who paid to avoid them. So what’s an advertiser to do? Turn to radio, where data shows ad-supported streams offer a way around the paywall, particularly to higher-income listeners.
Audacy analysis of Nielsen Scarborough data puts the household income of ad-free music subscribers at $111,000, compared with $82,000 for ad-supported streaming music listeners.
The shift toward ad-free listening is also showing up in time spent. Edison Research data shows ad-free listening on Spotify rising from 4 to 21 minutes a day over the past decade, while ad-supported listening moved from 4 to 7 minutes. Roughly 75% of Spotify listening is now ad-free. In July, Edison’s Share of Ear findings showed ad-supported Spotify reaching 7% of adults daily, against 56% for AM/FM radio.
Audacy says streaming radio and podcasts fill the gap. Streaming radio listeners have a median household income of $92,000, about 12% higher than ad-supported streaming music listeners, and podcast listeners come in at $110,000.
Edison’s Q2 2026 data shows streaming radio, defined as AM/FM listening on non-radio devices, accounts for about 17% of ad-supported digital audio listening, and podcasts account for 44%. Together they make up 61%, compared with 33% for ad-supported streaming music. SiriusXM accounts for 6%.
