Nielsen's Annual 360 Survey Finds Music Still Most Popular Form of Entertainment...But Don't Get Excited Yet

We know you've been hearing all sorts of rumors about how the music industry is heading toward the gutter (and that's largely true). Not to fear however: You can always read these findings from Nielsen that suggest things are on the comeback. Nielsen's Music 360°, an annual survey carried out to see how the nation is taking its music, reveals that music is still the most popular form of entertainment, with 75 percent of people listening in at least once a day compared to the runner-up, television, which steals the attention of only 73 percent of the population on a daily basis.

Basically music should be grateful that watching television while you drive won't be legal anytime soon.

The most popular time for people to listen to music is while commuting or driving, followed by while doing household chores. The radio remains the most popular way for people to listen to music, with more than 59 percent using it. The no. 2 method for listening to music was via personal library, such as one's record collection or iTunes account. Let that sink in a moment. Less than half of those who listen to music on a daily basis own copies of the music they listen to. That becomes even more concerning when you consider how quickly streaming services such as Spotify are catching up: 41 percent of listeners acknowledged using them. Sure, that's still a small royalty payment to the performers responsible for the music, emphasis on small.

The most damning find from the poll was how infrequently those using streaming services bought the music they listened to. The poll indicates that only 18 percent would go on to buy the music they listened to on a streaming platform.