Study: Consumption of music streaming declined significantly during COVID-19 lockdowns worldwide

The COVID-19 pandemic was expected to alteration however radical devour media. A caller survey analyzed online euphony streaming information for apical songs for 2 years successful 60 countries, arsenic good arsenic COVID-19 lawsuit and lockdown statistic and regular mobility data, to find the quality of those changes. The survey recovered that the pandemic importantly reduced the depletion of audio euphony streaming successful galore countries.

The study, by researchers astatine Carnegie Mellon University (CMU), the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), and City University of New York, appears successful Marketing Science.

"Our enactment is the archetypal to gauge the interaction of COVID-19 connected integer streaming depletion successful a planetary context," explains Rahul Telang, prof of accusation systems astatine CMU's Heinz College, who coauthored the study. "It upends the fashionable anticipation that online media platforms would payment from the restrictions enactment successful spot during the pandemic, successful portion due to the fact that this benignant of music depletion is not standalone entertainment, but complements activities that declined during lockdowns, specified arsenic commuting."

Worldwide, the economical impacts of COVID-19 shutdowns person been substantial. But amid a marketplace meltdown, immoderate anticipated that request for integer streaming services would surge since galore radical were forced to enactment astatine location and enactment remotely, spending much clip online. Moreover, arsenic theaters and unrecorded concerts were shuttered, it was anticipated that consumers would beryllium much apt to perceive to euphony astatine home.

In this study, researchers analyzed streaming information from Spotify, 1 of the largest euphony streaming work providers, for play apical 200 songs during 104 consecutive weeks betwixt June 2018 and May 2020 successful 60 countries. They besides examined COVID-19 lawsuit information from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, information connected enforced societal distancing measures by governments from the Oxford COVID-19 Government Response Tracker, and country-level information connected changes to individuals' clip allocation during the pandemic from Google's COVID-19 Community Mobility Reports.

To relationship for the maturation and seasonality of streaming demand, researchers compared play streams with those of a comparable week the anterior twelvemonth for each country, comparing 52 weeks from June 1, 2018, to May 30, 2019, with 52 weeks from May 31, 2019, to May 28, 2020.

In much than two-thirds of the countries studied that enforced lockdowns, euphony streaming measurement declined importantly aft the lockdowns took effect. On average, audio euphony depletion decreased 12.5 percent aft the World Health Organization (WHO) pandemic declaration connected March 11, 2020. As a result, during the pandemic, Spotify mislaid 692 cardinal euros ($838 million) of gross successful the archetypal 3 quarters of 2020.

Reductions successful workers' commuting clip correlated powerfully with the diminution successful euphony consumption, the survey found, indicating that restricted question contributed to the shrinkage. In fact, countries with larger decreases successful mobility and transit clip saw much marked reductions successful euphony streaming aft the pandemic. Another origin driving depletion could beryllium that radical spent little wealth connected euphony streaming during the pandemic, a clip erstwhile galore mislaid income.

The survey besides examined euphony depletion done video platforms (e.g., online video channels), utilizing information from YouTube's euphony streaming level from July 2019 to October 2020. Consumption via video platforms, which requires much attraction and is little complementary to activities similar driving, roseate during the survey period, with unprecedented surges successful measurement aft the WHO's declaration. Based connected counts of artists' video views connected YouTube, euphony request successful this mean accrued much dramatically successful countries with much COVID-19 cases, stricter lockdown policies, and sharper declines successful individuals' mobility.

Finally, the survey examined however a impermanent easing of galore COVID-19 restrictions successful precocious April and aboriginal May 2020 affected streaming volume. Results suggest a partial rebound successful streaming measurement successful countries with a alteration successful COVID-19 cases and with declines successful the magnitude of clip radical spent astatine home. Researchers suggest that immoderate resurgence of caller cases of the microorganism could pb to further restrictions and much enactment from home, which would apt depress streaming request erstwhile more.

"Our findings suggest that the pandemic has changed the situation of media consumption, putting streaming audio euphony successful fiercer contention with different forms of media," notes Jaeung Sim, a Ph.D. campaigner successful KAIST's College of Business, who led the study. "As such, they supply utile insights and actions that tin beryllium enactment into signifier during and aft the COVID-19 pandemic." Among the imaginable actions, the survey suggests that level providers look astatine caller approaches to boost fans' engagement, reconsider the timing of caller medium releases, and rethink promotion strategies.

---

---