New Delhi: Majority of urban Indian women (41 per cent) prefer listening to free music streaming online than via paid service (30 per cent), according to a report.
Latest data from research and data analyst group YouGov showed that free music online is more popular among women between 21-29 years (45 per cent), while paying for music is more common among women between 30-39 years as compared to others (at 36 per cent).
Availability of free music and subscription fatigue could be a reason for choosing free over paid music as about 37 per cent women feel they have too many subscriptions to things.
Urban Indian women also showed a preference for music available on video streaming sites (39 per cent) and downloadable music using file sharing sites (38 per cent).
Listening to music radio in a car (34 per cent) or internet radio (33 per cent) are also popular among women.
In comparison to this, traditional ways of listening to music, such as on CDs (17 per cent), portable radio (15 per cent), or on vinyl (9 per cent) seem to be less popular.
Whether paid or free, streaming music is common among urban Indian women and 56 per cent of them agree that they primarily listen to music through streaming services.
These streamers are more likely to reside within Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Delhi.
They also listen to podcasts, with music being their most preferred genre. Within music genres, 90s music tops the charts among women, followed by classical and pop music.
Recent data from YouGov’s Global Media report 2022 shows the pandemic fuelled a global growth in streaming music in the past year, and it is likely to grow further in the future.
In India, while consumption increased for both the genders in the past 12 months, a higher number of women than men claim to increase their consumption of streamed music in the next twelve months (52 per cent women vs 47 per cent men).
Similarly, consumption of podcasts is also expected to grow for this cohort as a third (33 per cent) of women said they intend to increase consumption in the future.
This presents a strong opportunity for brands and advertisers to engage with a highly receptive and engaged set of consumers, particularly younger generations, the report suggested.
The YouGov profiles are based on continuously collected data and rolling surveys, rather than from a single limited questionnaire.
The report garnered data from over 9,000 respondents.