The Changing Audio Consumer and the Future of Audio
While many of us focus on high-performance two-channel audio systems, which are more or less the result of decades of development and art, we’re not typical consumers. A lot has, and is, still changing with respect to the kinds of people who are buying audio and listening to music. This demographic shift has accelerated and the changes in peoples’ listening habits are now dramatic.
Those who know me know I have worked on the manufacturers’ side of the consumer electronics industry for decades. Therefore I am always interested in what kinds of products companies need to produce, ideate, invent or innovate in order to serve the market. Don’t hate me, but that research led me to work on the first iPod docking speakers, the first ultraportable speakers and the first Bluetooth speakers, as well as the first audio/video receivers for home theater, among many other products.
While many readers here may have no care for these or other mass-market audio products, it is also true that these and many other product developments have contributed to a lot of listening. All of them were informed by listening to and looking at media consumption by a large variety of people, and trying to serve their needs better.
That is why the Consumer Technology Association (of which I am a member) recently completed a research study on the current demographics of audio users. The purpose of the study was to aid CTA member manufacturers, retailers, developers and other firms in better understanding the changing marketplace and adjust expectations, methods and product development, and service offerings.
The results of the study show that things have changed – and are continuing to change a lot.
First of all, it is a much bigger, wider and more diverse audio universe than ever before. Now that people have the ability to listen almost everywhere, they are doing so whether on the go, waiting in line, at an airport, in bed, out and about – just everywhere. Of course this means changes in the quality of sound they’re listening to, due to the ability to listen to music virtually anywhere and the wide variety of music-playback devices that enable this.
Headphones, which used to be a much less prevalent playback device, have become dominant, which of course is part of why events like CanJam have become important audio shows.
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