Almost all Norwegians aged 12-65 now stream music, but only half pay for a subscription. 38 percent prefer to stream for free via services such as YouTube, the free version of Spotify or Facebook. At the same time, the willingness to pay among the youngest music listeners is increasing year by year.
/ 08/11/2018 / Willy MartinsenThis appears in Polaris Nordic – Digital Music in the Nordics 2018, an annual Nordic survey on digital music usage conducted by YouGov for the three Nordic rights organizations TONO (N), Koda (DK) and Teosto (FIN).
– Streaming has become the norm, and the digital music economy is growing. Half of the population now pays for their music consumption with one of the streaming services, an increase of 2 percentage points from last year. This is a positive development, says TONO CEO, Cato Strøm.
However, it is worrying that the proportion who stream for free is also increasing – from 33 percent to 38 percent.
– The streaming economy in general is still too bad for music creators, with a few winners and a large majority getting little in return. The free services and free versions reinforce this, and make it difficult for songwriters and composers in general to make a decent living, says Strøm.
A very positive trend in this year's survey is the increasing willingness to pay among young music listeners. Among 12-17 year olds, 70 percent now say they have a paid premium subscription. This is an increase of 4 percentage points since 2017. Similarly, 71 percent of 18-29 year olds say they use a paid service.
– This means that young generations of Norwegians are now growing up who are used to music being something you pay for. It gives hope for the future, says Strøm.
Almost 7 out of 10 Norwegians stream music or music videos on YouTube. 58 percent of Norwegians use Spotify, of which 71 percent pay for a subscription and 31 percent use the free version. 25 percent stream music or music videos on Facebook.
– Streaming makes music more accessible than before. But the possibility of listening to music for free puts a damper on the general willingness to pay for listening to music. And when as many as 1 in 4 say they consume music via Facebook, it is time for Facebook to start sharing a fair share of the revenue with the rights holders when music creates revenue for them, says Strøm.
In the survey, 40 percent of Norwegians say they think it is fair and reasonable if Facebook also pays the same amount for music usage to songwriters and artists as other streaming services do. Only 12 percent think this is not fair.
About the survey
Digital Music Services in the Nordics 2018 was commissioned by TONO and its sister societies KODA and Teosto. Interviews were conducted with over 1000 people aged 15-65, as well as parents of children aged 12-14, in each of the four Nordic countries represented (Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Finland). In total, over 4000 online interviews were conducted.
About TONO:
TONO is a non-profit cooperative, founded in 1928, owned and managed by its members: composers, lyricists and music publishers. TONO manages performance rights for musical works in Norway, and collects royalties for their public performance. TONO represents Today more than 29,000 TONO members, as well as more than 2,5 million authors from other countries in the Norwegian territory through reciprocal agreements with sister societies worldwide. TONO's results for distribution are transferred to the rights holders of performed musical works. TONO facilitates the use of music in society, while at the same time providing music creators with a basis for constantly creating new musical works. For more info: www.tono.no
For more information:
Willy Martinsen, communications manager at TONO | mob. 909 65 254, | willy.martinsen@tono.no