Entertainment

On April 6^th were unveiling the worlds new audio consumption habits that are emerging during the covid-19 pandemic. While on-the-move listening is obviously affecting streams, were seeing a positive shift towards home devices and mood listening. Weve looked at the streams of music throughout the region between March 2 and March 29, 2020 and heres what we discovered:

Were adapting to life indoors

The lack of daily commute and on-the-move listening is changing when we listen. Instead of the usual average of 8/9am weekday peak, the region has shifted to 11am/12pm. On the weekend, people are streaming continuously in the afternoon - something weve never seen before. And although Thursdays before had the highest stream volume of the week, this changed after social activities stopped. Now, for the first time, every day looks the same.

Return of the streams

Following the lockdown announcements, we saw an initial decrease. However, around a week later, engagement levels have started to increase again. Weve seen from our data that people need around ten days to adapt to their new solitary life. Our data in the UAE, for example, showed that although engagement levels dropped initially, it levelled out after the first week of lockdown. Elsewhere, countries like Egypt are following a similar pattern.

Changing to this new lifestyle has also meant a bigger demand for content driven by our mood. In the week following the launch of our Stay at Home channel, playlists like Chill at Home increased by 40%. Happy Hits also saw a lift of 200% in the region.

We also saw a major increase in functional playlists. As many of us are working from home, plays of Deezers Work From Home playlist rose by 400% in the days following the launch of our Stay at Home channel.* Although were homebound, fitness and exercise remain a priority for us, with Home Workout being the top streamed playlist in the channel in the region.

Switching devices

When were at home, were streaming less on our mobile phones. Instead were turning to home devices to play our tunes. Smart TVs saw the biggest boost, with music streams on home speakers, tablets and PCs all increasing. Looking at weekly regional data from week commencing March 2nd. Heres the breakdown:

Home isolation means that people have to adapt to a entirely new life. You have to keep your kids entertained, ensure to stay fit and still balance work and personal time. Our data shows us how people are adapting. Home devices are taking up the job of streaming audio. Peak streaming now happens one to two hours later than our normal morning time. And the difference between weekends and weekdays is more or less gone - every day looks like Friday now, stated our MENAT CEO, Tarek Mounir.

The channel weve created to help people stay at home contains everything you need, from working from home to keeping the kids happy to meditation. And listeners have been embracing streaming as part of their wellbeing routine. Our editors are working non-stop to ensure that listeners always find fresh and relevant content on Deezer, no matter what day of the week it is, he mentioned.

Three short-term future trends during the covid-19 lockdown:

1. Were relying less on our mobiles and more on home devices. This will probably continue to increase, particularly in Saudi Arabia and the UAE.
2. After an initial decline in the shock stage, streams are predicted to start increasing again. It will probably be some time before we are back to pre-crisis levels though.
3. Contextual playlists will continue to boom as they assist with our daily indoor life.

Key global trends:

World-wide, were also seeing a behavioural shift in podcast listening. Despite overall global podcast listening dipping, topics like kids, sports and meditation are booming after the launch of our Stay at Home channel. A week after launch, the daily active users of kids podcast content grew by 218% as parents balance work from home and entertaining their kids. Sport coaching grew by 194% and meditation increased by 132%. We believe that contextual podcasts will continue to boom as they help with our daily indoor life. Subjects like cooking, culture and fitness are set to become even more relevant.

In addition, live radio listening overall boomed globally by 19% in the last two weeks. In the previous week, it increased internationally by 2% again.

If youre looking for playlists designed especially for your life on lockdown, check out Deezers Stay at Home channel.

• Tags
• #Business
• #Magazine
• #Lifestyle