Australians spend 3.4 hours a day listening to audio according to the inaugural, Australian-first ‘Share of Listening – Australia’ study*, a universal view of how Australians are consuming and listening to audio.

The independent research by Vision Critical was developed following the US ‘Share of Ear’ study pioneered by Edison that captures listening behaviour across multiple sources.

The Share of Listening – Australia study aims to provide a complete and constructive audio snapshot of listening behaviour, including total time spent listening, share of individual channels and devices, mapping listening behaviour by time of day, location and activity.

Commissioned by Pandora, the Share of Listening – Australia study will be conducted twice a year to explore the current listening behaviours of Australians. This first study was implemented towards the end of 2016 to provide an independent and accurate snapshot of the shifting listening behaviours of all Australians that in turn is being published as an outlook that sets a benchmark for 2017 and beyond. The next survey will be released in the second half of this year.

The study found that while traditional radio still has a 52 per cent share of listening, streaming services, such as Pandora, have captured 11 per cent of the market in just three years, jumping to the number three listening choice ahead of online music videos and traditional music television.

The research also shows that music streaming is changing listening behaviour. Music streaming consumption is consistent throughout the day and especially evenings with a core 14 to 39 year old demographic, while radio leads during the morning commute and skews to an older audience of 40 to 69 year olds.

“Whilst traditional radio still commands a large reach, the advent and uptake of music streaming is delivering incremental audiences for advertisers. The research found that one in three millennials do not listen to traditional radio in a given week. It’s a compelling look at current listening habits,” Pandora ANZ director of business development Rick Gleave said.

Average time spent listening is stronger for streaming services versus traditional radio across all demographic groups. Pandora is the number one streaming brand for average time spent listening, according to the study.

More than one in 10 Pandora listening occasions were over three hours long, compared to one in 20 for other streaming services.

The majority of traditional radio listening happens in the car during the commute, however, streamers listen throughout the day across multiple devices. Pandora users are more likely to listen in the home, at work, in the gym, as well as the car.

In addition, 83 per cent of Pandora listening occasions are on mobile (compared to 72 per cent for the total streaming market), reaching listeners at any time and any place. As a result, Pandora has the greatest share of listening occasions throughout the day, with 60 per cent occurring between 8.30am and 4.30pm.

“This offers advertisers more opportunity, as listeners have a greater ability to respond to calls to action.” Gleave added.

“At Vision Critical, we’re proud to launch this robust study, delivering an authentic snapshot of Australians listening behaviours. It’s been great to collaborate with Pandora Australia on this important project to understand the current audio landscape in Australia.

“The Share of Listening study is a timely benchmark in measuring the changing dynamic of Australians’ listening habits,” added Andrew Wolstenholme, VP of research for Vision Critical in the Asia Pacific region.

* Methodology: Share of Listening – Australia study was conducted by Vision Critical who conducted online interviews with 1,974 Australians aged 14 to 69. A total of 7,592 listening occasions were captured over 7 days and 409,000 minutes of listening. Each respondent was assigned a single day of the week to complete a diary based on all the occasions (with a maximum of 10) they listened to an audio source that day, including: source (AM/ FM radio, streaming, audiobooks, podcasts etc.); if streaming, which service (Pandora, Spotify, Apple Music etc); device used (smartphone, tablet, laptop, AM/ FM radio etc.); who they were with at the time (myself, friends, family etc.); location/ activity (travelling, at work, school/ uni, gym etc.); and time spent listening