Today, IFPI, the organization representing the recording industry worldwide, released Engaging with Music 2023, its global report examining how people around the world discover, listen to and feel about music. Based on the responses of more than 43,000 people across 26 countries including Canada, the report serves as a snapshot of the importance of music in our lives today. 

What’s clear from the results is that people are listening to more music than ever and they’re engaging with that music in new ways. On average, people around the world listen to 20.7 hours of music a week, with the IFPI also reporting a 7% increase in time spent listening to music on paid subscription services. 

Fans are also taking advantage of a growing number of ways to engage with music. Globally, 80% of gamers listen to music while they play, while the survey also found that music is central to 54% of all time spent watching videos on short-form video apps. Looking at 16-24 year-olds, 82% of respondents said short-form video is the top way they engage with music, followed by audio streaming (72%).

Audio streaming continues to grow in popularity across all age groups, with 73% of all respondents saying they listen to music through subscription or ad-supported streaming services. Despite this growth,  the survey results indicate that unlicensed music is still an issue. Globally, 29% of people use unlicensed or illegal ways to listen to or obtain music. In Canada, that figure is slightly lower (26%), but still worrying.

“While it’s clear that more and more Canadians are turning to licensed streaming services to access music, these results indicate Canadians still can and will access unlicensed or illegal content. We need to make sure that our regulatory environment pushes Canadians to licensed services, not away from them,” says Music Canada CEO, Patrick Rogers. 

As teased last week, for the first time this year the report includes a section dedicated to artificial intelligence (AI). The results clearly indicate that fans around the world deeply value authenticity – in fact, nearly eight-in-10 music fans (79%) feel human creativity remains essential to the creation of music. Looking at the Canada-specific results, 79% of Canadians with an awareness of AI’s capabilities think an artist’s music or vocals should not be used or ingested by AI without permission. Moreover, 76% agree that AI should not be used to clone or impersonate music artists without authorization. 

Other findings of note:  

• Pop is still the most popular genre in the world, but on the whole respondents listened to more than 700 music genres. Local genres are more and more in demand.

• • • 57% of Canadians say it’s important to them that they can access music that comes from anywhere in the world
    • On average, fans worldwide listened to more than 8 different genres of music. 

• Music is hugely important for our mental health and well-being.

• 75% of Canadians say music is important to their mental health 

Download the full report here.

Download infographic here.