The Beat Goes On

A new report from Nielsen confirms that music is still an important part of most Americans’ lives. The Music 360 2015 Report found that 91% of us listen to music and we spend an average of 24 hours each week listening. That’s an average of 3.4 hours/day…that’s more time than college and university students spend on work and related activities (2.5 hours) and even more time than they spend on educational activities (3.3 hours) (link).

According to Nielsen,

Radio continues to be the No. 1 source of music discovery in the U.S, with 61% of respondents saying they find out about new music from AM/FM or satellite radio, a 7% increase over last year. Word of mouth is also important, particularly for teens: 65% say they discover new music through family and friends, well above the average of 45%.

music-360-chartAccording to another report from Nielsen, “On average, U.S. consumers report spending $109 each year on music. So aside from albums, what other types of music options are consumers spending their money on? Surprisingly, live events are gaining momentum, as they now account for more than half of total music activity spending each year.”how-we-spend-money-on-music-final

The chart on the right shows how American music consumers are spending (or not spending) their dollars to acquire music. As you can see, live concerts and CDs are the top two ways of purchasing access to music. While this chart may not describe your spending patterns, it is interesting to note that traditional means of acquiring music are still important. And you may also be interested in knowing that two albums alone sold a combined 7 million units last year…dominating album sales. “Combined, Taylor Swift’s 1989 and the Frozen soundtrack accounted for almost half of the year’s top 10 album sales.”

 

3 Replies to “The Beat Goes On”

  1. I believe that music is one of the most influential mediums in the media family. Music can draw the listener in and influence them to a certain feeling or an old memory. Through out the day we take in music within our daily activities. I found it interesting that radio is still the number one avenue for people to discover new music. With different apps and streaming services I figured AM/FM would be lower in the charts. Radio has faced several obstacles over the years and has learned to adapt to still be relevant to listeners. I think having this information is good for mass communications students because it shows the stats of what the people are using to get their music.

  2. The Beat Goes On directly shows how much of an impact music makes within people’s lives. This post shows how much of an influence music still is on society today. When we watched the music video We are the World song, it showed how much of a massive influence this song has on society. It caused many people to donate money towards the cause from the simple act of one song. The remake years late for Haiti did the same thing and proved that music still can influence people. The influence music has throughout people’s life is amazing because often the songs artist write are on the basis of experience that have occurred in their lives. This overall has caused the people to want to continue to listen to music for many hours a day because they are able to relate the song back to their life. The key appears to be in the music industry that it either needs to be catchy or be able to produce an impact in someone’s life. It is interesting to see how much many artist make in a year. As we learned in class, Taylor Swift was at the top in terms of grossing money at $250.4m, which gives some insight into why here 1989 album was in the top 10 of album sales this year. Overall, The Beat Goes On directly show how much music makes an impact in society’s consumption of media throughout their daily lives. If music did not exist as a form of media it would be interesting to see how much time would be spent with another form of media.

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