We don’t actually know how frequently you’re asking these questions…. but we think you should ask them.

Are streaming music users really the same people who listen to my radio station?

There are three lingering myths about who is streaming music. They’re “lingering” myths because, just a few short years ago, these beliefs were true.

Myth #1 – Most people aren’t using streaming services

When Spotify launched in the U.S. in 2011, only a handful of tech-savvy music fans subscribed to on-demand streaming services. By 2018, Spotify, along with Apple Music, Amazon Music, and their competitors surpassed Apple’s iTunes and other digital download services as the primary way Americans consumed music they control. Even then, fewer than 50 million Americans subscribed to an an on-demand streaming service.

That changed this decade. Spurred by the pandemic, many Americans embraced on-demand streaming music. By 2024, the majority of Americans had a paid music streaming subscription.

Myth #2 – Only young people stream their music.

That wasn’t a myth a decade ago. Today, the majority of Americans under age 45 are paid subscribers to a music streaming service.

Myth #3 – Fans of our format’s music aren’t streaming

That wasn’t a myth a few years ago. As late as 2018, half of the most played songs on streaming services in the U.S. were Hip Hop songs. Pop was under-represented and Country was completely absent.

That changed during the pandemic as a wider range of music fans tried streaming for the first time. By 2022, Pop surpassed Hip Hop as the leading genre for the year’s most-streamed songs. The following year, Country fans fully embraced streaming, too.

Today, the styles of music people play on streaming closely mirror the songs they hear most on the radio.

Which streaming services’ listeners’ data are in Your Hit Momentum Report?

Our local streaming data comes from the three major on-demand streaming services, which are Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music. The report also includes data from several smaller services, including YouTube Music (audio only), Pandora (on-demand only), Tidal, and SoundCloud.

What percentage of streaming audio users are in the data?

By including data from every major on-demand music streaming platform, well over 95% of all on-demand song audio plays in your market are included in Your Hit Momentum Report’s data.

What streaming music data is not included?

We’re specifically interested in showing you which songs people play when they’re in control of their music, while avoiding songs people inadvertently consume for other reasons. Therefore, Your Hit Momentum Report does not include:

• Video streams, such as YouTube or Vevo. (We do include on-demand audio plays from the YouTube Music Service)
• Non-interactive streams on internet radio services such as Pandora. (We do include on-demand plays from Pandora Premium subscribers.)
• Songs used in TikTok videos.

How does Your Hit Momentum Report compare to other streaming data sources?

You can see the 200 songs fans played the most on Spotify last week for free. However, not every song that’s big on streaming today will ultimately be a hit for your station tomorrow.

Our proprietary Momentum Index algorithm doesn’t merely look at what’s big on streaming this week, but instead analyzes which songs fans keep streaming week after week to determine which songs mass audiences know and love.

Your can learn more about how Momentum finds the real hits here.

How does Your Hit Momentum Report compare to callout?

Traditional callout research finds a small group of people in your market who meet certain criteria you define and who are willing to participate in market research. These respondents then listen to short snippets of songs you provide and tell you if they know and like each song.

Your Hit Momentum Report analyzes how music consumers in your market play specific songs on all major streaming platforms and reports which songs’ streaming patterns perform like mass-appeal hits.

What is the sample size for callout vs. Your Hit Momentum Report?

A typical callout report includes 50 to 100 paid research respondents. Since the sample size is so small compared to a station’s audience, callout users typically recruit very specific respondents based on demographics and radio listening behavior to maximize the impact of their responses.

Your Hit Momentum Report includes data from everyone who streams a song in your market on major music streaming platforms, not merely a selected sample. Since the streaming services analyzed include over 95% of all on-demand music streaming, and since 56% of 25- to 44-year-olds subscribe to an on-demand music streaming platform, 53% of your listeners are typically included in Your Hit Momentum Report data.

How is data in a callout report different from Your Hit Momentum Report data?

Both callout and Your Hit Momentum Report give you a ranker of the best to worst songs you could play.

Callout reports perceptions: Based on hearing a few seconds of a song, respondents report if they’re familiar with a song and, if they do know it, how much they like or dislike that song. Playing songs that a lot of people say they know and love, while avoiding songs people don’t know or dislike, will cause listeners to spend more time with your radio station.

Your Hit Momentum Report shows behavior: The songs at the top of Your Hit Momentum Report are the songs lots of people in your market are playing on streaming services and keep playing week after week. Playing songs that people consistently play for themselves will cause listeners to spend more time with your radio station.

Why is Your Hit Momentum Report so much cheaper than callout?

The vast majority of money you invest in callout research goes towards finding, recruiting, and surveying participants. People not only feel more time-starved these days, they also have become more savvy about the value marketing research has for businesses. Therefore, the cost to find willing participants and compensate them for their time has ballooned in recent years. Additionally, quality callout providers will invest in labor-intensive quality control systems to weed out dishonest respondents.

Your investment in Your Hit Momentum Report pays to access raw behavioral data from streaming music services and to analyze that data to make it useful for you as a radio programmer. Fortunately, paying to access existing data costs much less than traditional marketing research recruitment.

Should I ditch callout for Your Hit Momentum Report?

There are good reasons callout has been radio’s primary new music research tool for decades. It allows you to solicit feedback from the specific type of listeners who have the greatest impact on your ratings. It allows you to see how different segments of your audience are reacting to specific songs. Finally, it allows you direct information on how many people hate a song.

If you can still afford high quality callout, you should use it.

How can I use Your Hit Momentum Report to enhance my callout?

If you’re fortunate to still have the budget for local callout, Your Hit Momentum Report can help you make the most out of your research: It can find which new songs are becoming mass-appeal hits weeks or even months before callout, so you can focus on the right new songs. Your Hit Momentum Report can also tell you if there’s a sizable fan base for a song you’re not yet playing. Finally, Your Hit Momentum Report can spot changes in weekly streaming patterns that indicate listeners are getting tired of a song, so you can more carefully monitor burn for those titles.

Can I use Your Hit Momentum Report instead of callout?

If local callout isn’t in the budget, Your Hit Momentum Report can provide you with a comprehensive behavioral data-based report of the best- to worst performing songs in your market. It cannot provide you the audience segmentation callout does. It also can’t give you the additional perceptual attributes that callout can. When coupled with your intuitive understanding of your audience and your strategic vision for your station, Your Hit Momentum Report will reliably identify the real hits, from new releases to recurrents.

You didn’t answer my frequently asked question!

Call or write and I’ll answer it!