The conservationist and writer Rachel Carson once said, “A child’s world is fresh and new and beautiful, full of wonder and excitement.” In 2014, when we at Edison Research started our Share of Ear® study, children aged 3-12 in the U.S. were just below the age threshold for our survey. This group has spent the last decade exploring an audio world of infinite choices with their own fascinations and enthusiasms.
As Share of Ear turns 10 years old, yesterday’s children are now teenagers and young adults, age 13-22. And this group, born at the dawn of this century (between 2002 and 2011), gives us a peek into what the future of audio consumption might look like.
The graph below shows the Share of Ear for today’s 13-22-year-olds:
What likely jumps out quickly is the ratio of on-demand options such as streaming and YouTube as compared to linear options AM/FM and SiriusXM.
Today’s 13-22-year-olds spend more time listening to music on Spotify (22%) and YouTube (23%) than on AM/FM Radio (20%), which includes both music and spoken word. When we factor in listening to podcasts on Spotify and YouTube, Spotify accounts for 24% and YouTube for 28% of all audio consumption time among this age group.
With ten full years of data collected, we can track changes among cohorts. Clients of Share of Ear recently received a special report that shows how people are changing their audio consumption patterns as they age. It will certainly be interesting to see how this group evolves and how they might be listening to audio in 2034, when they will be 23-32 years old.
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Edison Research and audiochuck explore the allure of true crime podcasts as well as the changes in the genre in a new study, the True Crime Consumer Report. The study will premiere in a keynote address on August 20, 2024 at 8:30am EDT at Podcast Movement in Washington, D.C.
Edison Research’s Senior Director of Research Gabriel Soto will share never-before-seen insights and videos from true crime fans that will transform perceptions of the genre and of true crime audience growth.
