Apple launching Beats in June; as report shows Pandora leads streaming in the US

Unconfirmed reports on the weekend claim that Apple will relaunch Beats’ music service in June at the annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC).

Details of the service are still thin on the ground. But figures from a report released last Friday show that Apple’s challenge will be to convert the large numbers who know the Beats name to start using the service.

The Infinite Dial 2015 report from Edison Research and Triton Digital showed that Pandora is the outright leader of streaming services in the United States in both monthly usage and brand awareness – and Beats Music is at the bottom of the list in both categories. It ranked the services this way:

Pandora: monthly usage (45%), brand awareness (75%).

iHeartRadio: monthly usage (17%), brand awareness (59%).

iTunes Radio: monthly usage (16%), brand awareness (59%).

Spotify: monthly usage (13%), brand awareness (41%).

Amazon Music: monthly usage (7%), brand awareness (42%).

Rhapsody: monthly usage (5%), brand awareness (41%).

Google Play All Access: monthly usage (5%), brand awareness (30%).

Beats Music: monthly usage (3%), brand awareness (27%).

The Infinite Dial 2015 found that the number of Americans who stream music monthly has risen from 47% last year to 53% (or 143 million). Weekly streamers rose to 44% from 36%, which denotes how streaming is now part of their regular consumption. But interestingly, these weekly users are spending less time streaming, from 13.19 to 12.53.

Those who stream the most are the 12 to 24 age group. With them, Pandora rates the most (54%) followed by Spotify (23%) and iTunes Radio (20%).

In the 25 to 54 group, iTunes Radio ranks highest (12%), then Spotify (9%).

The 55-and-over group mostly uses Pandora (12%), followed by iTunes Radio (3%) and Spotify (1%).

So how will Apple, which bought Beats Electronics in May 2014 for US$3 billion and hired tastemakers like radio broadcaster Zane Lowe to ramp up its music choices, make a dent? According to analysts, it can target the younger market. Or it can tap on those 20 million American consumers who between 2006 and 2009 stopped buying CDs but have not turned to downloading or streaming instead.

The study also found how media consumption has changed in the past five years. Online radio is an increasingly important part of consuming music. 53% of Americans aged 12 and over, listen monthly. Tuning in on a weekly basis are 44% (or 119 million). Again Pandora was the service of choice (54%), iHeartRadio (11%), Spotify (10%, and iTunes Radio (8%).

Podcasting is also on the rise, with 46 million listening each month compared to 39 million the previous year.

YouTube rates high in music fans when they watch music videos or listen to tracks: 63% of all users, and nine out of ten in the 12 to 24 age group.