OSpotifylargest service streaming audio player in the world, has just released the new Culture Next, a report that reveals three consumption trends among Generation Z (born between 1997 and 2010). The data shows that the young public saw a 76% increase in the consumption of music and podcasts in the first quarter of 2023, compared to the same period in the previous year. In the first half of the year, Gen Z listened to more than 560 billion songs and more than 3 billion podcast episodes!
The report named Cultural Dives, Making School and Viral Culture as this year’s main trends, reflecting the deepening of listeners’ cultural experiences through immersions in this world, the impact of leading podcasts in the field of education and the spread of local cultures throughout the globe, respectively.
These topics present Gen Z’s search for deeper, more meaningful experiences, with a desire to break through the superficiality they often encounter on social media. Along this path, 78% of Generation Z listeners in Brazil pointed to Spotify as a fundamental factor in promoting this cultural immersion.
The platform’s diverse features, including mixes of editorial and personalized music, alongside tools such as Match, Niche Mixes and artificial intelligence DJ, allow the discovery and exploration of new musical styles. Since the launch of the AI DJ in February this year, Gen Z has listened to more than 1.5 billion minutes of music and recommendations around the world. Furthermore, this audience played a key role in creating deeper connections with friends, representing around 58% of all playlists Match shared in Brazil in the first half of this year.
At the same time, the growing popularity of podcasts nationwide over the last year has led Generation Z to explore a variety of categories, including Crime and Suspense, which saw a 111% increase in viewership, and Science, in which young people saw an increase 84% in interest in the topic. In addition to these two topics, the Sports category saw audience growth of 67%.
Another way to measure engagement is completion rates, which is when users stay until the end of the song or episode. In terms of podcasts, completion rates for the Humor category exceed 80%.
In Brazil, Generation Z played a big role in the streaming of podcasts on Spotify during the first half of 2023. With more than 148 million streams, there was significant growth of 68% compared to 2022. Much of this is due to educational podcasts, one of the categories most sought after by young people and which has transformed learning methods. On Spotify, listening hours in the Education category by Gen Z increased by 80% compared to the previous year. It is important to highlight that more than 77% of listeners from this portion of the Brazilian population believe that podcasts offer lessons on topics that they wish they had learned at school.
Still in Brazil, 75% of Generation Z members believe that as Viral trends accelerate the evolution of culture like never before. The ability to keep up with these trends is crucial for this generation, even given the enormous amount of content available. Considerably, 40% of people in this age group have listened to podcasts at an accelerated rate in the last year, while 58% have speeded up music playback.
These indicators show how Generation Z is increasingly breaking cultural boundaries. Whether by her own will or due to globalization factors, she shows 28% more willingness to understand music as a portal to other cultures compared to the year 2021. Furthermore, 86% of members of Generation Z say they have consumed music and podcasts as a way to explore other knowledge and new experiences. It is interesting to note that 72% of Generation Z reveals an appreciation for music in other languages, a significant increase as well, compared to 2021.
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