Younger Australians are more keen to tune into new music, while one in two people prefer streaming music and live music’s popularity is on a slow rise.

The latest survey from the Victorian Music Development Office released on Monday also shows pop music is the top choice for 20 per cent of Australians.

This is followed by rock (13 per cent of Australians), country (11 per cent), the Top 40 (10 per cent) and hip-hop or rap (7 per cent).

CDs are the most common music purchase, making up 18 per cent of sales, but this is down from 25 per cent in 2019.

Nearly one in two Australians prefer streaming music for free, accessing free music videos or paying for the service.

Up to 70 per cent of under-35s say finding new music is important to them, compared to 46 per cent of the general population.

TikTok is growing as the place for Australians to discover new music, with half of Australians now finding new artists via the social media platform.

However Facebook remains king, with 61 per cent of Australians also finding new music through the site.

Fans are attending more live music everywhere, from the stadium to their local bar, all seeing between a 1 per cent and 7 per cent jump in popularity with arenas having the largest rise.

But there has been a drop in spending on gig tickets and merchandise. The survey includes the last two years of the COVID-19 pandemic which saw venues forced to close their doors.

Australians spend nearly two hours a day listening to music but this changes based off age, with 16 to 34-year-olds listening to 2.3 hours and over-55s averaging about 1.5 hours a day.

Finbar O’Mallon
(Australian Associated Press)