While Luminate's Year-End Music Report spotlights sales and consumption trends, there's some noteworthy radio-specific data, along with research that, while not focused on radio listening, may prove useful to programmers.
In its breakdown of how listeners of six key music genres consume music content compared to the average listener, findings from Luminate's Fall 2022 Music 360 Research Report show that AM/FM radio is one of the three highest-indexing music engagement activities among listeners of country, pop and rock. For country, it indexes higher than all other such activities, with listeners 12% more likely to listen to AM/FM, ahead of watching short music video clips on social sites (such as TikTok) or listening to CDs (3% greater likelihood for each). Among rock listeners, radio ties CDs for first, both with a 9% greater likelihood, while for pop, that same 9% ranks third behind short video clips (19% more likely) and streaming audio songs online (10%).
The report's segmentation section, identifying five distinct groups of music listeners based on Luminate's research, includes “The Radio Rocker,” which represents 28% of music listeners, the greatest share of any of the five. Most notably, it's the only of the five more likely to be listening to AM/FM radio. “Radio Rockers enjoy classic rock, country and other genres that established themselves decades ago, but that doesn’t mean they’re averse to new releases,” the report says. “We’ve found that Radio Rockers still tune in to new artists, so long as they embody the same classic rock ethos (with modern country/rock/pop fusion acts being an example, which they tend to gravitate towards).”
The Radio Rockers' share of music listeners puts it just ahead of the Gen Z/Millennial and hip-hop-focused “Cool Kid” and less demographically defined and premium music service streaming “Ghost Listener” (27% for each). Gen X's higher-income “Enthusiast” and male/LGBTQ+ “Devotee” make up 10% and 8%, respectively.
Luminate also reports on what moods drive music fans to listen, with 'happy” and “calm” ranking highest at 64% and 51%, “fun” and “energetic” tied at 49%, and “nostalgic” at 38%. From a radio programming standpoint, this may bode well for classic hits, adult contemporary and CHR formats.
Other highlights of Luminate's year-end include “From Sync on Screen to Growth in Streams,” its look at how catalog tracks benefited from use in TV and video programming. At the top of that list is Kate Bush's “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” which, 37 years after its original release, became a multi-format hit at radio due to its use on Netflix's “Stranger Things,” causing streams for Bush’s music to grow by more than 20,000%. “Gen Z, Music, and Money” focuses on how this group spends 21% more time weekly with music than listeners from any other generation, and 18% more money on music monthly than the average U.S. music listener.
As for the consumption trends, Luminate notes that U.S. on-demand audio streams hit the trillion mark for the first time ever in a single year in late November, and that Taylor Swift’s “Midnights” achieved 1.58 million equivalent albums on its first seven days of release, making it the biggest release week in seven years.
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