PEOPLE ARE SEARCHING FOR NEWS THEY CAN TRUST & “COMFORT FOOD” FOR THE SOUL

“In a time when many are confronting both increased solitude and increased anxiety, familiar music provides reassurance because it reminds us who we are as people.”

A recent study about music consumption by Nielsen Music [link] says there is an increased preference for music that is comforting, familiar and nostalgic.

Nielsen Music looked at data from major streaming services and it supports this conclusion. For instance, Spotify reported that the popularity current top hits dropped 26% between March 12^th and April 16^th. But, there was a 54% increase in people accessing instrumental “chill music.” There was also an uptick consumption of music from the 1950s, 60s, 70s and the 80s.

 Of course, music has helped people to accept and get through tough times throughout history. Now we are in uncertain times and music is comfort food for soul.

The same trends are affecting radio listening. Blogger/researcher/consultant Fred Jacobs wrote on his blog [link], that commercial Classic Rock stations are among the few music formats that are seeing increasing listening. 

Jacobs summed it up this way:

“Since COVID-19 became part of our collective lives. Again, this is another one of those indicators that these ‘comfort seekers’ are gravitating to music they know – and love.”

Jacobs should know because he created the Classic Rock format.

According to Nielsen Audio, many noncommercial public radio stations are seeing the same thing in the just-released April ratings. Quite a few Classical music stations are seeing record-setting AQH shares. We used to jokingly refer to Classical as “the ultimate oldies format.” Perhaps we should call Classical “the ultimate chill format.”

Overall, we are seeing the same pattern we discussed on Tuesday; AQH shares up and the number estimated weekly listeners are down by 50% or more. Most commercial and public radio news/talk stations have seen major increases in AQH shares. But, there are plenty of exceptions.

In the April Nielsen ratings for April, AQH listening to Classical WETA is way up but their number of weekly listeners dropped by double-digits.

The biggest ratings news for DC are the gains in listening for news/talk stations. 

WMAL, a conservative talk station, for the first time is the top station overall in the market.

WAMU and commercial news/talk WTOP both saw their AQH shares dip a bit compared to data from March.

Pacifica’s WPFW has their best book in recant history.

We are seeing similar trends in Seattle-Tacoma. 

Sea-Tac is one of most competitive radio news markets in the nation. 

Bonneville’s KIRO-FM was the top station in the market in April. 

KUOW and KNKX both increased their AQH shares compared to March. 

All news KOMO dropped a bit.

But look at the April performance by Classical KING and AAA KEXP. 

Both increased their AQH share significantly.

In the Twin Cities AAA powerhouse The Current had a big, big increase in their AQH share. 

But other music stations had decreases in AQH share or stayed at March levels.

NPR News/Talk KNOW had a larger AQH share than all of the commercial news/talk stations combined.