New Report Finds That People Are Listening To More Music Than Ever Before

A new report released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has made multiple exciting findings about how we listen to music and how often.

Engaging With Music 2022 is a global report about our listening habits based on the responses from over 44,000 people in 22 countries, making it the most extensive study of its kind.

The report highlights are encouraging to read, as the average weekly time listening to music has grown to 20.1 hours - up from 18.4 hours in 2021 and confirms that we are listening to more music than ever before. Can we get a hell yeah?

Elsewhere, Engaging With Music 2022 finds that music provides vital support to our mental health and physical well-being. 69% of people surveyed said music is essential to their mental health, while 68% require music when they exercise. 

On an unsurprising note, 46% of people use music subscription streaming services to hear their favourite artists. Meanwhile, many listeners enjoy music in various formats. We're using six different methods to engage with music, including terrestrial radio, television, film, gaming soundtracks, creating short-form videos on TikTok and much more. If people scroll through apps and watch short-form films, 63% argue that music is central to those clips. We're not listening to the radio for talk shows, weather and traffic reports, or advertisements: 73% of the people surveyed tune in to the radio to hear music.

People are also listening to a more diverse range of music. It's not only hip-hop, pop, and rock dominating our streams, but at least 500 genres were identified by one respondent, with "Sertanejo", "Samba", "Disco-Polo", and "Dangdut" some of the genres identified - the Spotify supremacy is leading us to find local and global artists at our fingertips.

This result is somewhat shocking in the streaming era: One in three people (30%) use unlicensed or unauthorised methods to download music.

Frances Moore, the Chief Executive of IFPI, shared, "This year's Engaging with Music report paints a fascinating picture of how fans around the globe listen and engage with music today. It shows the results of record companies' partnership with artists and their work to harness new technologies to connect fans with their favourite tracks in even more ways. 

"We continue our work to ensure that those seeking to profit from unlicensed and unauthorised music can't threaten the vibrancy of a music ecosystem that is essential to artists and fans. Engaging with Music 2022 serves as a healthy and celebratory reminder of the true global importance and value of music and the need to protect and support it." 

You can read the full report here.

Have a look at the highlights infographic below.