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Media
Bauer research says radio still important for music discovery
By CMU Editorial | Published on Wednesday 30 November 2011
Now, you would probably expect new research published by Bauer Radio to say that radio remains the most important place for people to find out about new music and, well, that’s exactly what new research published by Bauer Radio says.
Of course the survey, undertaken mainly to combat the theory that web-based music services are taking over from radio in terms of music discovery, was limited to listeners of the media firm’s Passion Portfolio stations – so the national brands which mainly broadcast on digital platforms – which means these stats don’t account for those who have totally shunned radio. But they do possibly show that, for those people still listening to radio regularly, it remains an important medium for music and new music consumption. And for pop music especially, I don’t think it’s any secret that radio airplay can still make and break acts in the UK.
Anyway, of the Bauer listeners who completed the online survey, 88% had consumed music via radio in the previous seven days, compared to 61% via an MP3 player, 56% via a TV channel, 50% via websites, 46% on CD and 40% via their mobile phone. 48% said that radio was the “main way” they had consumed music in the previous week.
With regards new music, 83% said they found out about new tunes via the radio, someway ahead of the ‘through friends’ thing that social media-obsessed digital services are always going on about, which was mentioned by 53% of this audience. When asked whose music opinions they trusted, 42% said radio, while only 22% their friends.
Commenting on the stats, Bauer’s Robbie McIntosh told reporters: “There have been some suggestions the internet is replacing radio as a music source so we wanted to investigate this and understand the truths about how young passionate music fans are exploring and sharing music. There was also a challenge issued to radio to show its continuing relevance to record companies at the recent Radio Festival, since the internet can connect fans and artists online. Our research of the most active online passionate music fans shows that radio is sitting at the heart of all music discovery, listening and sharing”.
