A new survey from Edison Research studied how much time Americans spend listening to various audio sources. The report is a fascinating look at our listening habits.
The results show that an average American listens to four hours and five minutes of audio every single day.
Here’s the breakdown of that listening time:
52.1% — broadcast radio (both AM and FM stations)
20.3% — owned music (CD, vinyl, downloads, cassettes, etc.)
11.6% — streaming services (Internet radio, Pandora, Spotify, Beats, etc.)
7.7% — satellite radio
5.2% — TV music channels (such as “Music Choice”)
1.7% — podcasts
1.5% — “other” (things like audiobooks)
Granted, the category of “broadcast radio” includes sports, news, and talk programs as well as music, but as a source that accounts for more than half of all listening, terrestrial radio’s power remains quite strong.
Also, given how much press (and controversy) surrounds platforms like Spotify and Pandora, it’s perhaps surprising for some to see how physical formats and downloads still far outpace streaming in terms of “ear time.”
Are you surprised by these findings? If so, why? Let us know in the comments below.
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Chris Robley is an acclaimed singer-songwriter and award-winning poet from Maine.
His Beatlesque indie-pop and milltown Americana songs have been praised by The Associated Press, No Depression, KCRW, The LA Times, Boston Globe, NPR, American Songwriter, and others.
His poems have appeared in Poetry Magazine, Prairie Schooner, The Poetry Review, and more.
Robley has received a Maine Literary Award in Poetry, Boulevard’s Emerging Writers Prize for Poetry, and in 2016 was selected by former US-poet laureate Robert Pinsky as a finalist for the Dorset Prize.