DUBAI: The music industry worldwide has grown rapidly as listeners find new ways to enjoy their favorite sounds, while streaming services offer broader access to music and also make it easier to discover new artists.
As the world celebrated International Women’s Day, data and analytics firm YouGov released a report analyzing how female listeners discover music.
Music apps are the most popular form of discovery across the globe (36 percent), especially in Mexico (56 percent) and Asia-Pacific, or APAC, markets (44 percent).
Social media is a crucial platform for artists, with 34 percent of women around the world using it to find new music. In fact, it is the most popular medium of discovery in the UAE (63 percent), followed by Mexico (52 percent) and APAC (46 percent).
Women between the ages of 18 and 24 (56 percent) and 25 and 34 (45 percent) are especially likely to find artists they like on platforms such as TikTok, Instagram and Facebook.
One-third of female listeners globally still find music through more traditional channels, such as radio (33 percent), but this number varies across regions and is the highest in Europe (42 percent).
Word-of-mouth remains a powerful influence, with friends and family playing an important role in new music discovery among women around the world (29 percent).
Movie and television soundtracks are also crucial for new music releases. About three in 10 female respondents (28 percent) said that they have added to their music catalog thanks to films or shows — a trend that is more common among women in the UAE (38 percent), APAC (35 percent) and Mexico (32 percent).
In the UAE, social media is the most popular medium for finding new music and is more prominent among women than men (63 percent compared with 52 percent), particularly among women aged 35 to 44 (75 percent).
After social media, women in the UAE discover music through movies and TV shows (38 percent), and music apps (38 percent), followed by recommendations from friends and family (31 percent).
Social media plays an important role not only in music discovery but also other aspects of women’s lives in the Emirates, with 57 percent saying they spend more time online now than they did a year ago and 41 percent saying it has changed their life for the better.
The increased time spent on social media and its role in women’s lives present an undoubted opportunity for brands, especially since 60 percent said they often notice advertisements on the internet and 36 percent were more likely to engage with ads on social media than on other websites.
