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Here are some of the key findings from the report (which of course, along with all of the opinions and interpretations are my own and are not, necessarily, EMI’s)
Streaming has a firm foothold. 32% of consumers across the globe are now using streaming services. However, adoption is far from uniform.
Nordics lead the way. Norway and Sweden (the home of Spotify) are respectively the 1st and 3rd most active streaming markets globally. Key to this trend is the relative sophistication of Internet users in these markets. 48% of Norwegians are now streaming music users, as are 43% of Swedes.
Streaming is a good fit for piracy riddled Spain. Spain is the 2nd most active market with 44% streaming penetration. But whereas consumer sophistication was key to Nordic adoption, in Spain piracy and the legacy of free were the most important drivers.
Free is a good fit for France too. The role of piracy and free have also been important in France. French authorities have pushed through the controversial Hadopi legislation but the carrot of Spotify and local streaming success Deezer has delivered immediate results. Translating streaming usage into purchases though is less successful: just 13%.
Purchase conversion rates are higher in lower penetration markets. The US, Canada, UK, Germany and Denmark have lower streaming penetration but these markets have much higher streaming-to-paid downloads conversion rates, averaging 23% of streaming users.
Streaming Drives Music Discovery and Consumption. Although it is still too early to draw definitive conclusions about exactly how much streaming impacts piracy and sales, the case for driving discovery and consumption is much clearer. 55% of global streaming music users state that they now discover new artists and new music as a result of streaming.
Usage is steady among existing users. Usage among existing streaming users is broadly steady with 19% using streaming more than 12 months previously and 20% more."
Methodology: "This July EMI’s Insight division launched an unprecedented initiative to share data from their 850,000 interview Global Consumer Insight data. This dataset covers 25 countries and over 7,400 artists, with twelve people being interviewed at any given moment, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."
