A new study from Billboard and Nielson Music titled “COVID-19: Tracking the Impact on the Entertainment Landscape” has determined that the coronavirus pandemic has lead to a rise in new music discovery amongst listeners.
The study focused on people’s entertainment habits during isolation. Conducted over two-week intervals beginning the week of March 25th, it surveyed a panel of 1,010 people aged 13 and over.
The third instalment of the study found that more and more people are turning to entertainment as escapism. There has also been an increase of consumers exploring outside their “comfort zones”. 84% confirmed that they’re listening to the same music they usually listen to, whilst 43% revealed that they are listening to new music from artist’s they’ve never listened to before — marking a 4% increase from the second study.
Speaking from personal experience I can confidently say I have never listened to more unfamiliar music in my life than during my time in isolation. I think there’s only so much lying on the bathroom floor, sobbing to Elliot Smith that one’s mind can take before it begs to be projected into oblivion using the music of King Gizzard and the Wizard Lizard as a vehicle.
The study found that country, children, and classical genres have seen an increase in listeners. The growth of children and classical genres makes sense, I’m just curious as to what it is about the isolation that’s encouraged everyone to become sad cowboys.
Music videos have also seen a 10% increase in popularity, so if you were umming and ahhing about whether you should drop that quar-brain self-directed music video that you created in a period of pure mania, the answer is yes, absolutely, there’s never been a better time.
The study also temp checked how people were feeling about returning to live music. Many people expressed their interests, provided there would be additional precautions such as hand sanitizer stations throughout the venue (61%), limited number of tickets sold (50%), preference to outdoor venues (51%), and temperatures checked at the entrance or security checkpoints (35%).
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You can read the study in its entirety here.
