The rise of streaming and decline of physical has led to concerns about the future of the album format. Even the average length of tracks has reduced in the streaming era.
The industry has come together to promote the album on all formats with the National Album Day initiative. The second edition, which introduces the ‘Don’t Skip’ theme, takes place on October 12.
Ahead of this year’s edition, Deezer has surveyed UK music fans and found that 49% of people say they are listening to fewer albums in full than they were three to five years ago.
Deezer surveyed 2,000 UK adults and found that just under half (42%) are putting their ‘favourited’ songs on shuffle or play individual tracks, with under 25s more likely to do this (55%).
According to the survey, 15% of music fans under 25 have never listened to a full album. But a quarter of this age group believe being a fan of the artist is the driving force behind them wanting to listen to more albums in the future.
Deezer’s streaming data shows the UK’s album listening time is now lower than the 26 minutes daily average worldwide - at just 17 minutes a day. However, 82% of survey participants have listened to a whole album from start to finish. The top places to listen included at home (53%), a car journey (32%) or on a walk (14%).
Over a quarter of listeners (27%) play an album the way the artist intended.
Nearly three quarters of listeners (74%) confirmed they’re more likely to listen to an album in its entirety following an artist’s live performance. Another 32% listened ahead of a gig. Deezer saw an increase of over 30% in its UK streams of Backstreet Boys DNA album following the band’s performance at The SSE Hydro Glasgow in June.
Nigel Harding, VP of global artist marketing, said: “Albums can be a big part of feeling closer to your favourite artist. You can understand their story and truly appreciate the passion and craftsmanship that has gone into making the album. But it can be easy to fall into other habits when you’re short on time. We want to support the album by encouraging music listeners of all ages to take a little bit of time to really enjoy the music.”
Kim Bayley, CEO of ERA, added: “We know that in today’s busy and fast paced-modern world it’s becoming easier than ever to simply shuffle our music and listen to individual tracks on the go. But there’s no denying that the British public still enjoy the experience of the album and listening to a body of work from beginning to end. Whether it’s because of nostalgia for older listeners or declaring your fandom as an under 25, the fact that more and more people are looking to listen to albums is great news ahead of National Album Day.”
Deezer will launch a dedicated National Album Day page within its app.
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