Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) has done it again. iTunes Radio has only been around for 6 months now, but the service now has 8% of the internet music streaming market. The service is now just behind Clear Channel’s iHeartRadio and just ahead of Spotify.
Pandora still leads internet radio
Despite the immense growth of iTunes Radio, Pandora Media Inc (NYSE:P) is still in the lead with a 31% market shares. These numbers come in Edison’s yearly audio report titled “The Infinite Dial 2014.” This report also found 36% of all Americans ages 12 and up listen to online radio. And in-car online radio usage has surged. This year, 26% of mobile phone users connected their phones to a car compared to last year’s 21%.
Edison Research’s VP of Strategy and Marketing, Tom Webster claimed, “The continued penetration of smartphones in America is changing behavior significantly. We are now seeing activities that were dominated by desktop usage in 2013, flip dramatically to become mobile behaviors. For millions of Americans, the smartphone has become ‘the first screen.'”
Mobile and social media trends
This research goes beyond internet radio services. 61% (over 6 in 10) have a smartphone. The number is 8 in 10 for younger people ages 18-34. Despite the increase in smartphone usage, social media growth hasn’t budged much. Survey results from last year show Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) remains flat at 58%, however Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) usage barely went up a notch from 15% to to 16%. Perhaps this is all because many young users are trading Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) and Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR) for Snapchat. 46% of tech users aged from 12 to 24 use this app.
The internet has changed the way most consumers access and enjoy their entertainment. This recent survey offers just a small sampling of those changes.
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. (LON:BC94) (KRX:005930) is the latest company to join the internet radio streaming bandwagon. The company’s new service is called Milk Music and is powered by Slacker Radio which features 200 different radio stations. The music will be exclusively available to Samsung Galaxy owners. Instead of competing against iTunes Radio, Samsung’s new service will compete directly with the more popular Pandora Radio.
