US millennial snapshot A looming generational blind spot

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20,000 foot view:  In the US,        are the music industry’s most valuable segment. Yet their relationship with streaming is tenuous. Streaming is not meeting these consumers’ need for a more social, less algorithm-driven experience. What is more, they appear most likely to give their subscriptions up. Their behaviour contrasts with that of        who spend nearly twice as much time streaming, but are less likely to listen to playlists and full albums, and also slightly less likely to want a more social streaming experience. These insights give record labels perspective on what audiences are being attracted by each streaming service. Streaming services can either repair their relationship with        focus on building for the next generation, or attempt at both.

Key insights 

       are the largest US consumer base by age, and also contain the largest share of music aficionados
• TIDAL is the most dependent on        who make up        of its userbase, followed by Apple Music, with       
• Spotify is winning Gen Z audiences, as        of its weekly active user (WAU) base is        but lags with        who make up       
       spend a weekly average of        hours streaming music, the lowest of any age segment under        and a stark contrast with               hours weekly        of        would give up music rather than TV and film, and        are considering cancelling standalone entertainment subscriptions in favour of bundles        are more than twice as likely to stream stations and radio monthly        as              
• Most        would prefer a less algorithm-driven, more social streaming experience, and        struggle to navigate the vast volume of music on streaming
• Streaming services can court        by meeting their needs for human curation and connection
• Streaming services can build for the next generation of listeners by focusing on giving users control over their experience and creating cultural moments on-platform
• Apple Music is well-positioned to build for        and Spotify for        while a TikTok streaming service could serve both

Companies and brands mentioned in this report: Amazon Fire, Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Music, Apple Music, Apple Music        Apple One, Apple TV+, Beats One, Beyonce, ByteDance, Deezer, Jay-Z, SoundCloud, Spotify, TIDAL, TikTok, Verizon, YouTube, YouTube Music

Methodology statement:   For the purposes of this report, the term ‘millennials’ is used primarily to focus on our        age bracket, with a particular view through the lens of ‘young millennials’, as the        age bracket ecompasses the ‘older millennial’ segment and some of Gen X.  Likewise, Gen Z is represented by our        age bracket, which is also split into younger        and older (20-24-years-old) brackets. We are also mindful that these age brackets do not map perfectly to typical generational age markers, but the age bands are consistent with previous MIDiA reports.