Nielsen study reveals surprisingly old-school media habits among music fans
Radio is still the main way Canadians discover new music, according to a new report by Nielsen.
Published Wednesday, the Nielsen Music 360 Canada report showed that 61% of Canadians discover new music via the radio, beating out online sources, retail locations, magazines and satellite radio.
Overall, 42% of new music discovery happens on traditional radio, compared to YouTube and Vevo – where 27% of music discovery happens. The second most common method of music discovery was friends and relatives, accounting for 25% of music discovery.
Other popular methods of music discovery include movies (13%), social media (15%) concerts and other live events (12%) and browsing the iTunes store (20%).
While radio is still popular amongst Canadians, other traditional methods of music discovery account for a much smaller portion of overall discovery. Rdio, an online streaming service that launched in Canada in 2010, accounts for 21% of music discovery, beating out magazines (9%) and in-store marketing (14%).
Meanwhile peer-to-peer networks, including torrent sites like the Pirate Bay where consumers can illegally download music, account for 17% of new music discovery.
