Over 55s are UK’s fastest growing group of music streamers with 90% of new over 55 streamers taking out paid subscriptions, according to new pane research conducted by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA). More than 1.1m over-55 year olds turned to streaming services over the past year. Over-55 year olds are the fastest growing group of new users of subscription music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Prime Music, Deezer and You Tube Music Premium.
The research shows that over 1.1m more over-55 year olds were users of music subscription services in February 2020 compared with 12 months earlier. This means they accounted for over a third of the 2.8m new streamers in the UK over the period. The 90% increase in the number of over-55 year olds paying to stream music over the period was more than four times the growth in the number of people across the general population (18.5%).
The data comes from the ERA’s consumer tracking study which uses a representative panel of approximately 2,000 UK consumers about their entertainment consumption habits every quarter for the past six-and-a-half years.
In the survey, consumers are asked which technologies they have used in the previous three months to access music, video and games. The research suggests the number of people using paid-for music streaming services in the UK now exceeds 18m. More than 57% of streamers are 34 years old or younger, but as penetration begins to plateau in the younger age groups, the growth rate is accelerating in the older age groups
Over 55s are fastest growing group of new streamers
| Total number of streamers Feb 2020 | % increase in streamers Feb 2020 v 2019 | New streamers since 2019 | |
| Under 25’s | 6.03m | 6.8% | 385,000 |
| 25-34 | 4.45m | 10% | 405,000 |
| 35-44 | 2.75m | 14.6% | 351,000 |
| 45-54 | 2.58m | 29.5% | 588,000 |
| Over 55s | 2.33m | 90.2% | 1,107,000 |
| Total | 18.15m | 18.5% | 2,835,000 |
Source: Wave 27, ERA Quarterly Consumer Tracking Study conducted by Fly Research, February 2020
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.”
The ERA is the trade association representing the vast majority of retailers and digital services offering music, video and games. Its members range from independent record shops (Reflex, Sister Ray) to digital services (Spotify, Google, Sky, Deezer, 7digital) to internet retailers (Amazon) to specialist High Street operators (HMV, Game) and supermarkets (Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda, Morrisons).
