For the First Time Ever, Digital Streaming Surpasses Analog Music Consumption

An Edison Research study showed the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a rise in digital streaming.

Digital streaming has significantly changed the music industry as a whole. The advent of companies like Spotify, Apple Music, and TIDAL have made an irreversible impact on the music business. However, according to a new Edison Research study, the method trailed behind analog platforms until just recently.

The "Share Of Ear" study shows the COVID-19 pandemic led to an 8-percent increase in digital device usage. The company began documenting statistics in 2014. Their last study showed 55 percent of Americans' total daily time listening to music was done on analog devices (radios, turntables, CD players and TV channels).

The full study is available to read at Edison Research. The company plans to release "several interesting data points" for the audio industry to consider regarding user behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic. Previously, the company has worked with clients like NPR, Samsung, Sony, AMC Theaters, Google, and more.

After the pandemic began, however, the numbers changed. Currently, 53 percent of total daily listening time was done on phones, laptops, internet-connected TVs and smart speakers.

Director of Research Laura Ivey says the numbers could return to the norm after lockdown is lifted across the country. "Digital surpassing non-digital was almost inevitable according to the slow trend we saw in Share Of Ear," she said. "It appears that these disruptions may have just accelerated the process. We will have to wait to see if the numbers revert more closely to what they were before the disruptions.