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The music that songwriters create is as broad as the way it is consumed and even appreciated. Some countries prefer streaming while
others want to have a physical CD in their hands. Furthermore, some nations are more inclined to listen to EDM through a paid streaming
subscription than download a pop album. Every nation, whether through culture or availability, have a preference as to the genre and
medium in which it is listened. Simply put, di erent countries want to listen to di erent genres, and the way they purchase and listen to
that music varies the same.
To shed light on this topic, we have analyzed the music industry as a whole and the top 5 countries with the lion’s share of music
sales (United States, Japan, Germany, United Kingdom and France) to discover what they listen to and whether consumers are more
partial toward digital (Downloads & Streaming) or physical (CDs & Vinyl) music formats. We will be using market value and revenue to
indicate format preference. Our analysis is based on statistics released in 2015 and 2016.
When we last touched on digital U.S. revenues in our blog, Streaming – The Future of Physical and Digital Albums, we saw that
streaming grew to be the largest contributor to music
industry revenues in 2015. We can see similar growth in the
industry as a whole.
In regards to music preference, Spotify released a global study of its users and library showing that hip-hop is their most streamed genre.
They were able to come to this conclusion by analyzing almost 20 billions songs and the listening trends for over 1000 cities.
When we look at RIAA’s 2016 Mid-Year Shipment and Revenue Statistics, we can clearly see that digital owns the music industry with
about 80% market value. Streaming grew by a staggering 57% year-over-year to remain the single largest contributor to U.S. music
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revenues at 47%. Digital downloads saw a 17% dip in the rst half of 2016 and was
accompanied by physical’s decline of 14% since the rst half of 2015.
When it comes to the United States’s overall favorite music genre, Rock ranks #1. However, if we
look at the top genre based o of the most popular listening format (Streaming), R&B/Hip-Hop
takes the cake. Nielsen Music put together a few stats (below) which notes the top genres by
overall consumption and speci c format.
According to IFPI’s 2016 State of the Industry Report, Japan’s music market accounts for 76% of Asia’s trade value, making it the
second largest market in the world. Even with digital taking over physical sales globally, physical remains Japan’s primary format choice
and contributor to market pro ts. Physical formats, including CDs and vinyl, contribute to approximately 75% of Japan’s revenue. On the
other hand, streaming accounts for less than 5% of revenue but helped the nation achieve its rst increase in music sales (3%) in years.
Japan has not necessarily landed on its feet yet with the introduction to digital. As other nations embrace and actually capitalize on
market growth, Japan’s cultural apprehension to change, love of collectables and licensing/rights restrictions has hindered their ability to
evolve and grow. With the future growth of streaming, it will be interesting to see if it can become more widely accepted without
cannibalizing Japan’s physical market.
J-Pop. Probably no surprise that J-Pop is the most popular genre in Japan. If aren’t already familiar, it’s a mixture of modern pop and rock
with Japanese sensibilities and in uences. Watching HERE is easier than explaining.
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1/15/2018 Global Music Markets – Preferred Music Formats and Genres - Angry Mob Music
In conclusion, digital’s 54% market share is enough to be the preferred music format for the United Kingdom.
Pop nally beat out rock to become the most popular music genre in UK. Pop now has the largest market share for album sales at 34.5%
and 36% for single sales while rock has 33.2% for albums and 24.3% for singles.
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1/15/2018 Global Music Markets – Preferred Music Formats and Genres - Angry Mob Music
CONCLUSION
There is a de nite battle between physical and digital preferences for the Top 5 countries. However, statistics point to one common
occurrence – both physical CDs and digital downloads are in a decline while streaming continues to grow in every country. Streaming has
been instrumental in stabilizing, if not improving, market growth for each of the selected countries. As such, streaming has
supported digital in becoming the world’s primary revenue source. Japan, Germany and France still might have physical as the preferred
music format, but the encroachment of digital will likely create a niche market for physical music consumption. The future presence of
this dated format is still yet to be revealed as the ashes of the digital explosion have yet to settle. In regards to genre, does Pop ever get
old?
Sources:
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