The Daily Swarm

Billboard via @jgrossnas:

A new paper by Council for Research Excellence (CRE) with support from the Nielsen Company dispels many of the myths about how people today listen to music. From broadcast radio to MP3 players, some popular notions about listening in the digital age appear to be horribly off the mark. “How U.S. Adults Use Radio and Other Forms of Audio” is the result the tracking of 752 days of audio media usage of participants in five markets—Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia and Seattle – in parts of Spring and Fall of 2008. The study includes both users and non-users of media devices.

Myth: People don’t listen to the radio anymore.
According to the study, broadcast radio by far has the broadest reach and commands the most listening time. Broadcast radio has a 79.1% reach and gets an average of 122 minutes per day from listeners.

Myth: Young people don’t listen to radio less than older adults.
The CRE found that 79.2% of listeners from 18 to 34 listen to broadcast radio, and they average 104 minutes per day. Radio’s daily reach amongst younger listeners is only slightly lower than its 80.6% amongst 35 to 54 year olds. That older group averages 107 listening minutes per day – just three fewer than younger listeners.

In related words, Carrie Brownstein interviewed a laundry list of people about their listening habits:

1) How often do you sit around and listen to recorded music with friends or family? Is it more or less often than you did around the beginning of the decade? On what device or equipment do you listen to most of your music? Do you go to shows more or less often than you did 10 years ago?

Andrew Leland, writer and managing editor for The Believer:
I am friends with most of my coworkers, and I am the guy in the office with the good computer speakers. It’s an open-plan office (no cubicles), so pretty often, someone will call out, “Hey, Andrew, put on some music,” and I’ll pull something together. At home, I always put a record on the turntable when I have friends over. I buy lots of $2 vinyl, find lots of records on the street. I don’t use an iPod unless I’m on a plane. I probably listen to music more than I did at the beginning of the decade, since it’s on all day, every day at work. I go to shows less, but not that much less.