Online music streaming services such as Pandora and Spotify appear to be driving interest in online in-car audio, according to new data from Vision Critical. In an online survey among a representative sample of 4000+ online consumers in the United States, Britain and Canada, the survey found that one-in-four drivers in the United States, Britain and Canada regularly play personal digital music through their car stereo system, and more than 50% are interested in doing so.
Broadcast radio is still the dominant source of audio in the car, more than three quarters of respondents in all three countries had listened to broadcast radio in their cars in the past week. What’s more, numbers indicating an interest in listening to digital audio should not be interpreted as a threat to that. Digital audio sources may well replace listening to cassettes and CDs says the survey.
Young men were the most interested in listening to digital audio in their cars, so stations offering streamed formats that appeal to that demographic will see the earliest benefits of in-car listening to mobile streaming.
Comparisons among listening in the US, UK and Canada are interesting. Streaming audio programs in cars in Canada, where royalty rates are considered too high for entry by Pandora and Spotify. Without them to drive interest, listening is growing more slowly than in the US and UK where Pandora and Spotify, as well as other services, have thrived.
— Jennifer Lane, President, Audio4Cast.com, has a long career in Internet radio. Read her blog about the business of Internet radio and digital audio at www.Audio4cast.com .
