Over-55s are the fastest growing group of new users of subscription music streaming services, according to new research from the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).
The study estimates that an additional 1.1m over-55 year olds were users of music subscription services such as Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, Deezer and You Tube Premium in February 2020, compared with 12 months earlier – accounting for more than a third of the 2.8 million new streamers in the UK over the period. The 90% increase was more than four times the growth in the number of people across the population (18.5%).
The data comes from ERA’s consumer tracking study which has quizzed a representative panel of approximately 2,000 UK consumers about their entertainment consumption habits every quarter for the past six and a half years. ERA's findings also suggested the number of people using paid-for music streaming services in the UK now topped 18.1m.
Over-55-year-olds are the new battleground in the streaming market
Kim Bayley
ERA
ERA CEO Kim Bayley said: “Over-55-year-olds are the new battleground in the streaming market. Previously streaming services have very much been regarded as something for music’s traditional younger fanbase. These numbers show that 24/7 access to all the music you could wish for is also attractive to older music fans.”
More than 57% of streamers are 34 years old or younger, but the growth rate is accelerating in the older age groups.
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