Report: Continued growth for streamed music in Sweden
September 18, 2024
Mediavision’s Q2 analysis of the Swedish audio market shows that daily listening time is stable compared to the same period last year. The total listening time amounts to 100 minutes on an average day, covering both live radio and digital audio (audiobooks, music, and podcasts on demand). It is evident that the country’s listening behaviour is still changing, as the ‘on demand’ share of audio services is increasing. Over time, Sweden’s listening has shifted more towards streamed music and podcasts. In Q2, music services and podcasts together account for more than half of all listening.
“Streamed music and podcasts continue to grow. It’s a development that look like what we see for TV,” commented Fredrik Liljeqvist, senior analyst at Mediavision. “Spotify has a very strong position in the Swedish market, but the past year has seen significant growth for other players. When it comes to podcasts, an increasing share of listening is concentrated on these global services, even though the content is mainly created by others, such as radio operators or podcast companies. Spotify is the largest audio service in Sweden, both in terms of subscribers and listening, but competition has definitely increased.”
While live radio maintains stable in daily reach, it is losing shares of total listening time to digital services which continue to grow. In other words, the gradual shift towards digital and on-demand listening continues.
“Compared to TV, however, live radio has managed to hold up better. For many, radio is a central media channel, reflected in more stable listening figures,” Liljeqvist added. “There are several reasons for this, including radio’s easy accessibility and the fact that it is completely free of charge.”