Spotify continues to trump streaming rivals and commercial radio stations in the UK
Spotify’s audience is “superior” when it comes to quantity and quality, according to market research firm TNS, which said that the Swedish-based streaming listeners have unique listening habits that could make them more “desirable” for particular brands.
TNS has revealed fresh figures about Spotify's audience
Surveying over 2,000 music listeners in the UK aged 15-64, TNS found that Spotify users are more likely to be socially engaged than radio listeners. Those listening to their favourite artists on the platform were more likely to use channels like Facebook and YouTube, which the researchers have said demonstrates the “high value” of including Spotify in a campaign where young, connected people are the target.
The service still has a lion’s share of the millennial market in terms of UK listening audience compared to rivals like Apple Music, and now 14 per cent more 15 to 24 year-olds use the service than those of the same age group who listen to the radio, but the demographic of the app is evolving. The gap between older radio listeners and Spotify users is closing with just five per cent less 45 to 54-year-olds now using Spotify Free than those who tune in to the wireless.
Year-on-year Spotify’s awareness among its core audience of 25 to 34 year-olds has risen from 80 to 90 per cent.
Overall the study found that Spotify’s free service now reaches close to 17 per cent of the UK listening audience, widening the platform’s incremental reach versus every major commercial radio station by 2.4 per cent since 2015.
David Cooper, Spotify’s director of audio, UK, said that the study was designed to "help media buyers understand the quantity and quality of the Spotify audience, and the extent to which it can complement and extend a broadcast media buy."
"These findings demonstrate that Spotify is in a unique position to reach an audience not otherwise engaged with radio, due to a shifting audio landscape where streaming continues to grow in terms of audience penetration across the generations and also engagement with the content.”
Spotify’s chief marketing officer Seth Farbman spoke to The Drum last week about how the brand is redefining PR to become a "faster advertiser" in light of growing competition from other disruptors.