Is 2019 the Year of Audio?

While some bullish opinions may be motivated by a degree of corporate selfinterest recent results from the gold standard in audio consumption research amp160Edison Research and Triton Digital39s 2019 Infinite Dial studyamp160amp160do indicate the industry is at a tipping pointamp160 Rapid gains in digital are making audio available to new audiences and driving increased consumption amp160Media companies are increasing investment in podcast production advertisers are investing in the medium and of most importanceamp160consumers are exploring more audio on an increased number of platformsIn the last decade audio39s three hottest categories podcasting digital audio and voiceactivated technology amp8211 have enjoyed particularly explosive growth going from niche options for early adopters to mainstream media choicesamp160 Back in the 2009 Infinite Dial these audio options were in their infancy and now just ten years later all three have strong usage and even better awarenessamp160 If such growth continues we may be declaring more years of audio or even an entire decadeAny holdouts who may need convincing that audio is where it39s at should consider the followingPodcasting Moves into the MainstreamAccording to the 2019 Infinite Dial nearly three in four Americans have heard of podcastingamp160 While podcasting feels very topofmind today its massmarket awareness is a relatively new phenomenonamp160 As one of the minds behind the report Triton Digital39s President of Market Development John Rosso pictured at right noted quotPodcasting has been on a long slow growth trajectory and it39s been bubbling up a bit each year but this year it made a very meaningful jumpquotHow big a jumpamp160 In 2009 more than half of Americans had never heard of a podcast let alone listened to oneamp160 At the time onlyamp16025 of Americans said they39d ever listened to a podcast and just 11 had done so in the previousamp160monthamp160 Podcasting was so new that in their research presentation to the media Edison and thenpartner Arbitron which was later bought by Nielsen included a detailed explanation of a podcast and how it differed from online audio and downloaded musicNow fastforward to 2019 when this year39s Infinite Dial declared that podcasting has gone mainstream with half of all Americans reporting they39ve listened to a podcast and about one in four people saying they listenamp160weeklyamp160 The audience has grown so quickly that its ranks have shot up in just the last yearamp160 Since the 2018 Infinite Dial podcasting added an additional 14 million weekly listeners and 17 million monthly listenersquotWe39ve seen rapid growth this year and we can assume it will continuequot Rosso saidamp160 quotYou have big companies coming in and it is growing on all dimensionsamp160 More people are creating content the quality of content being created is improving the quantity being consumed is increasing and so are the quantity and quality of ads and brands thatamp160want to be involvedquotamp160To further his point Rosso pointed to increased consumption with podcast listeners now consuming an average of seven podcasts per week up from five in 2017Online Audio Reaching More Consumers than Everamp160 In 2009 online audio was a relatively new option as radio stations started to stream online and Pandora and Spotify beganamp160to gain subscribersamp160 Yet digital audio39s value proposition was already being demonstratedamp160 That year39s Infinite Dial report noted digital audio offered consumers flexibility variety and controlamp160 Inamp160fact those remain some of digital audio39s strongest attributesWhat has changed is a significant boom in available services programming and ways to listenamp160 That hasamp160caused the number of Americans using online audio to balloon from 42 million weekly listeners in 2009 to 169 million weekly listeners in 2019amp160 That is now equal to 60 of Americansamp160 Even more impressive the average listener streamed 16 hours and 43 minutes of digital audio per week more than double the average of 6 hours and 30 minutes back in 2009What accounts for the boom in online audioamp160 Rosso suspects it is fueled by more podcast listening listening over smart speakers and growth of services like Spotify and Pandoraamp160 But future Infinite Dials will need to dig deeper he saidamp160 Tracking the fastchanging audio industry is a moving targetamp160 quotThe average time spent listening to online audio had a massive increasequot he saidamp160 quotHow much podcast listening influences that and how much do platforms like Spotify adding podcasts help to increase itamp160 We just don39t know yetquotSmart Speakers Bring a New Audience to Audioamp160 While radios have been disappearing from American homes and offices a new way of listening is replacing them via smart speakers and other voiceactivated devicesamp160 Since Amazon introduced the first Alexa device in 2014 smart speakers have entered the consumer conscious at warp speed and have reached nearly 80 market awareness the Infinite Dial reportsamp160 About a quarter of Americans now own a smart speaker up from just sevenamp160percent two years agoamp160 Most of those households own an average of two smart speakers but a quarter of them haveamp160three or moreThis rapid proliferation of smart speakers not to mention all the other places voice controlamp160makes accessing media easier including cars but that39s a conversation for another timeamp160is a boon for both radio stations and podcast producers as users often cite listening to audio as a top speaker activity And as more Americans listen to audio on smart speakers Rosso says it is helping drive the overall growth of podcasting and online audioamp160Such connective tissue between audio content and new ways to listen is driving the entire audio industry to new heightsamp160 Or as Sharon Taylor CEO of podcasting hosting companyamp160Omny Studiosamp160surmised at the RAIN eventamp160 quot2019 will be the year that audio cements its place as a firstclass citizen with voice technology and consumer trends continuing to drive exciting growthquotPictured at top Larry Rosin President of Edison Research showing the Infinite Dial findings at RAINClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

Is 2019 the Year of Audio?

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Alli Romano

APPLY FOR JOBS | SUBMIT YOUR RESUME | REGISTER FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT

Is 2019 the Year of Audio?

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Alli Romano

Cookies