Today’s post comes from Ypulse Lead Analyst Coby Mire.
Spotify Tops The Charts
Millennials love music, plain and simple. In fact, in a 2012 Ypulse entertainment survey, a whopping 83% of Millennials said they couldn’t imagine their life without music. Give them a source of music containing all of their favorite artists that can be streamed from anywhere and it is bound to explode. Enter a service called Spotify, and that is just what you’ll find. Spotify launched in Europe in 2008 and landed in the U.S. in July of 2011. In the less than two years that Spotify has existed in the States, it has caught on like wildfire and started a new cultural movement of how society in general, but especially Millennials, listens to music. As Ypulse recently discovered, nearly half (47%) of Millennials utilize Spotify as a method to listen to music.
So why has Spotify become so rapidly popular with this generation? Spotify’s unique features tend to go hand-in-hand with the Millennial mindset.
Availability of Free Music
“I like how [with Spotify] you are able to listen to the music that you want, free of charge. I love music, so why not?” – Female, 17
Who doesn’t like free things? Arguably the most beneficial and coolest thing about Spotify is that the unlimited supply of music is free! The music is also completely legal. Gone are the days when getting free music also meant the possibility of going to jail. Spotify has effectively found a way to provide on-demand music of a user’s choosing while side-stepping music piracy. Musical artists and rights holders are paid royalties from Spotify for each song played, which is almost solely funded by advertising revenue. Thanks to Spotify, Millennials are able to enjoy almost all of their favorite music for no cost.
Convenience and Portability
“I like being able to pick songs I want to listen to, and I like to be able to listen to whatever I want, whenever I want.” – Male, 16
It’s no secret that Millennials are always on the go and having music that is available anytime, anywhere is a must. With today’s technology and internet speeds, Spotify has almost eliminated the need for even MP3 files. Millennials can access their music and playlists on their computer, tablet, or smartphone – essentially anywhere they, are as long as connectivity is available. And when wireless connectivity isn’t available, Spotify offers Premium users the ability to download music files onto a device.
Sharing with Friends
“I like that Spotify lets me see what my friends on Facebook are listening to.” – Female, 21
Millennials are the generation of sharing. Well, sharing with their friends, at least. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to read anything online without a ‘like’ or ‘share’ button on the page, so it’s no surprise that sharing music is top of mind for this generation. Spotify allows Millennials to easily and instantly share songs and even playlists with friends via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, e-mail, or Spotify directly. In addition, Spotify provides a real-time stream of all songs played by a user so friends can keep track of what others are listening to.
Music Discovery
“Spotify has excellent suggestions for new music and large variety of music.” – Female, 21
Another reason Millennials love Spotify is the ability to discover new music. As previously discussed, sharing music with friends is a key component of music discovery on Spotify, but with so much music in one place, music discovery really becomes endless. Users can search for specific artists or genres, listen to others’ playlists, find the top played songs, etc. Spotify also features a streaming radio function, much like Pandora Radio, that blends similar musical artists together into one station.
Advertising Impact for Marketers
“I like that the service is free with limited commercials.” Female, 20
With so many Millennials using this music service, what does Spotify mean for marketers? Companies can target their advertising based on age group, location, and music genre, to make the advertisements more meaningful to listeners. While Spotify users may want to listen to music uninterrupted, this tailored platform does a great job of spacing out ads, only playing one at a time. With advertising that reaches a specific audience, Spotify’s format allows companies to make a wiser investment in broadcast advertising.
Coby Mire
While studying marketing at Louisiana State University, Coby discovered his passion for researching and analyzing consumers. Shortly thereafter, he took a trip up the Mississippi River to St. Louis, where he interned with Maritz Research and went on to complete his Master of Marketing Research degree at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. Now at Ypulse, he enjoys digging into cool facts about the ever-changing Millennial generation. A new resident of New York City, the Big Apple has become his home and playground, but true to his Louisiana roots, he still enjoys cooking gumbo and cheering on his LSU Tigers.
