Research
VMDO Music Consumer Insights Survey 2022 —
Published 19 December, 2022
It’s official! In 2022 more people agree that ‘music is [their] life and number one passion’ than in 2019 according to VMDO and Music Victoria’s Longitudinal Music Habits Survey in conjunction with Opinium.
Furthermore, radio and TV remain strong traditional consumption methods, though paid streaming is catching up as music makes its way into different parts of our lives (like exercise). Australians are also discovering more music online, where TikTok’s influence in the discovery space is catching up with Facebook and Instagram. Once Australians discover something, we’re adding it to and listening to our own playlists more and more, rather than to playlists from other curators - maybe in a similar way to how we’ve curated our own CD and record collections in the past.
U35s are the most willing to spend financially on music and also have the strongest desire for more engagement with artists on channels like YouTube, Instagram and Facebook. Australians want to support local artists, and it seems gig and festival attendance is growing in the ‘new normal’, though growth hasn’t yet translated to spending habits - recorded music spending is up, though haven’t yet been able to offset live music and merch spends which are down, contributing to lower spend overall compared to 2019 pre-pandemic levels. This may be reflected in Audience Outlook Monitor’s Oct 2022 research that financial barriers have now overtaken covid transmission as the main barrier to concert attendance.
Research reveals Australians still buy CDs and discover more music online.
Read the full press release here
Victorian Music Development Office (VMDO) is part of the Victorian Government’s $22.2 million Music Works strategy delivered by Music Victoria – it has a commitment to boosting the growth and evolution of the Victorian contemporary music industry, supporting the creation of sustainable opportunities and ensuring Victoria maintains its reputation for great music.