Sweden: New record for digital listening
December 7, 2023
Over 75 per cent of the Swedish population aged 15-74 years old listen to audio media such as radio, audiobooks, music, and podcasts, on an average day, according to research from Mediaivision. This is the same share as last year. However, there are significant changes between the different audio categories; live radio listening has decreased substantially, by nearly 10 per cent, while listening to digital audio services has increased by almost 15 per cent.
In general 60 per cent listen to at least one digital audio service on an average day. Growth is driven by more people listening to streamed music and podcasts. The gap in reach between digital audio and live radio has thus increased significantly compared to the same time last year.
With fewer people listening to live radio, it becomes increasingly important for audio providers to offer content that can be consumed digitally, i.e., when it suits the listener. This is also likely to have an impact on the radio advertising market, which currently relies heavily on live listening.
“The shift from traditional to digital audio formats continues. More and more people are now listening to digital audio services, while fewer are listening to live radio,” commented Fredrik Liljeqvist, senior analyst at Mediavision. “In Q3, we can see that services like Spotify and Youtube Music are taking bigger shares of the total listening. Just like for other media categories, this means that consumers are moving from local actors to global services. Mediavision believes that this will shape the Swedish audio market in the coming years as well.”