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It was a happy holiday season for several retailers: Lululemon, Abercrombie & Fitch, Crocs, and Pandora are among the companies that beat expectations over the final months of 2023.

YouTube is the preferred podcast platform among US listeners of this medium, according to Morning Consult. Spotify takes second place, followed by Apple Podcasts and Pandora.

It’s a milestone several years in the making, as streaming music, podcasts, and digital radio apps have become a staple form of media consumption. More than two-thirds of Canada’s population will listen to digital audio this year. Over the past five years, 4.9 million new listeners began streaming audio, boosting listenership by 22.5%. Time spent with digital audio has also surpassed radio.

The ad spending winter of 2022 and early 2023 was mild and short-lived, as we predicted. And after a solid H2 2023, things are looking up across the board for 2024.

Consumers are feeling the squeeze of the rising cost of subscriptions. Nearly seven in 10 (67%) US consumers saw at least one of their subscription services increase their cost, per March 2024 survey by CNET. Meanwhile, more than half (52%) of US adults have canceled a streaming service subscription because of increased pricing, per October 2023 data by TransUnion and Dynata.

The United States coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from internet user respondents in H1 2023 conducted by GWI.

The Western Europe region of the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, and UK.

The Middle East and Africa coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Egypt, Israel, Saudi Arabia, South Africa, and the United Arab Emirates.

The Canada coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from internet user respondents in H1 2023 conducted by GWI.

The Latin America coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, and Peru.

The Southeast Asia coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

The Central and Eastern Europe coverage in the Global Media Intelligence Report includes poll results from the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania, Russia, and Turkey.

Traditional search—which excludes retail media search—will claim the biggest share of US ad dollars this year, amounting to $90.73 billion, according to our March 2024 forecast.

Digital radio apps, podcasts, and streaming music options in Canada are proliferating, led by Spotify. We forecast there will be 11.1 million Spotify listeners in Canada in 2023, helping digital audio time climb to new heights. Podcasts are instrumental in rising digital audio minutes. We forecast there will be 13.1 million podcast listeners in Canada this year.

On today's podcast episode, we discuss why fewer folks are signing up to Spotify, whether breaking out an audiobook-only tier makes sense, and how much a speculative 'Music Pro' can move the needle. Tune in to the discussion with our analyst Ross Benes.