Despite the rise in the number of smartphone users, and increase in purchases of mobile entertainment content, traditional media channels, including packaged CDs, live events, radio and television, still remain a popular way for people to access new music and artists. The finding comes from the latest BoomBox report from mobile entertainment firm Myxer.
According to the study, 74 per cent of Myxer’s 35m users still buy CDs, while 47 per cent of respondents said that radio is the most popular way for them to discover new music. When it comes to finding out about local music, 45 per cent names radio as their preferred source, while word of mouth accounts for the second largest share at 31 per cent.
Within the digital domain, the study found that 32 per cent of users listen to music on their phone for between one – five hours a week, with 26 per cent claiming they listen to music on their phone for 20 hours a week or more. When it comes to music purchases, 42 per cent of respondents listed iTunes as their primary source.
Live music and merchandise, currently considered to be primary drivers of revenue for the music industry, are thriving, according to the report. 65 per cent of Myxer users attended a live music event in the past year and 55 per cent of them bought something from the artist at the venue. 
“While we have long known that entertainment is inherently social, making word-of-mouth and social media important avenues of discovery for new music, we were surprised to find that radio is still so relevant for discovery among those polled,” says Myxer CEO, Myk Willis. “Social media and the mobile internet have not killed the radio star, not yet at least.”
Since 2005, Myxer has catalogueed various data points, including age, gender, geographic location, phone model, manufacturer, carrier, as well as the operating system of each handset that initiated a download from its delivery platform that now supports more than 7m monthly unique visitors downloading over 80m content items each month. For this month’s report, Myxer used PollDaddy, an online polling and survey tool, which gathered responses from 1,049 Myxer users.
You can download a copy of the full report here.
