When was the last time you listened to a full album from start to finish without skipping any tracks? If you’re younger than 25 years old, there’s a chance you never have! According to a survey about album-listening habits conducted by French music streaming platform Deezer, 15% of music fans under the age of 25 said they have never listened to a full album. That is, from beginning to end without skipping a track in between.
While this statistic is based only on 2,000 adults based in the U.K., it doesn’t necessarily come as a surprise. The nature of music streaming platforms like Spotify and Apple Music increases the tendency for music listeners to simply add their favorite tracks into self-curated playlists. Up to 55% of music fans younger than 25 had this habit.
Another contributing factor to this perhaps shocking statistic is simply life itself. Many of those involved in the survey admitted they were simply too busy to devote time to a full album. And of course, there’s that convenient ‘skip’ button.
This once again brings up concerns about the future of albums. As a result, some artists have already started to release larger collections of work at the same time to boost streaming rates. Average lengths of tracks have also been said to have decreased in recent years.
Not all album-listening habits are bad, though. 74% of those surveyed said they were more likely to listen to a full album if they’ve seen a live performance of that artist. With live music ticket sales forecasted to exceed $25 billion by 2023, that shouldn’t be a problem. Moreover, there have been ongoing industry efforts, such as the National Album Day in the U.K. (coming up on October 12!), which makes us believe the album format is here to stay. At least in the foreseeable future.
If you’re based in the U.K., check out how you can get involved with National Album Day here!