Digital audio usage in Europe - statistics & facts
Music listening has long taken place online. Streaming is overtaking physical music consumption on a global level and Europe is no exception. In The United Kingdom alone, there are more than 36 million digital music users. While the entire continent as a whole is still expected to generate slightly higher revenues from traditional music, users now favor digital music. The future of music consumption is in streaming.
In general, digital audio usage in Europe is on the rise – the number of music streaming users in the region is increasing year-on-year and overshadowing traditional music consumers. While platform usage may vary across countries, the clear lead in all the markets is Spotify. In terms of how music is accessed, smartphones are the main device for audio consumption in all major markets.
Spotify leads music streaming in Europe
Young Europeans clearly prefer using Spotify to stream music. YouTube is the second choice for listening to music online, followed by Amazon. Data shows that Amazon Music is more commonly used by millennials, while SoundCloud is a more popular choice among Gen Z. All in all, Europe is the largest market for Spotify in terms of userbase. Platform usage, however, varies by country. While Spotify and Amazon take the top spot in most major markets, such as the UK, Germany, Spain, and Italy, in France the closest competitor in digital audio purchases to Spotify is in fact Deezer, followed by Amazon. In the UK and Germany, the ranking of the top three most used platforms is closed by Apple Music, in Italy and Spain the third place belongs to YouTube Music.Podcasts – what are Europeans listening to?
In the United Kingdom, podcasts are a common leisure pastime. Listeners say that the main reason for consuming podcasts in the UK is entertainment. Comedy is the favorite podcast genre for consumers in the country. In Germany however, news, education, and entertainment are the main purposes for listening to podcasts. At the same time Italians tend to choose discussion and news podcasts more often, while the French prefer listening to news, music, and comedy podcasts. All in all, when it comes to frequency of listening to podcasts among the major markets in Europe, some four percent of the British and Germans are frequent users of the format, followed by three percent of Spanish and French consumers, and two percent of Italians.In general, digital audio usage in Europe is on the rise – the number of music streaming users in the region is increasing year-on-year and overshadowing traditional music consumers. While platform usage may vary across countries, the clear lead in all the markets is Spotify. In terms of how music is accessed, smartphones are the main device for audio consumption in all major markets.
