Canada 360 Report, Part 1: Technology & Devices

By FYI Staff

What follows is the first of a 3-part series about current music trends as researched and compiled by the Nielsen Company and published in the Canada 360 Report – 2019. The first part highlights new technology and how consumers are using the multiple devices available to them to stream music.

Smart speakers and home voice assistants play an increasing role in delivering music to mobile and household listeners. About half of the 1,200+ survey respondents are now using voice assistants to find and stream music. For marketers, the key takeaway here is that those paying for a music streaming service are also more likely to own and use home voice assistants to discover and play music.

Breaking down how audiences are using voice assistants (which include smartphones and speakers), music plays third fiddle (20%) to weather checks (26%) and general questions (24%). Voice calls rank at 16%.

The report also notes that paying streamers use 3.2 devices in any given week to listen to music “and feel that technology plays a major role in the services they use.”

What’s important to know here?

Voice technology for general music streaming and discovery has become as ubiquitous as smartphones in the lives of active listeners. The increasing ownership of smart speakers in the home means that home stereo systems are being bypassed--so branding, playlist placements, and ensuring that your music catalogues are easily identifiable become paramount.

Nielsen Music 360 data estimates that paying streamers are listening to 34 hours of music weekly. That’s a big block of time, but how it is apportioned isn’t stated.

The report can be downloaded as a pdf file here.

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