TELEPRINTER: Almost a fifth of the Irish radio audience listens to hear music and for no other reason, according to a study by Ignite Research, the market analysis wing of Core Media.

Its finding that 18 per cent of listeners are seeking to listen only to some decent tunes when they switch on the radio hints at the potential share of the advertising market that “pure-play” internet radio could snatch away from traditional FM stations, according to Core Media chief executive Alan Cox.

Alarm bells

About 80 per cent of internet radio listeners select the free options that include advertising, rather than paying for ad-free services, he adds.

In the US, internet radio company Pandora – which will publish annual results later today – has 66 million listeners and accounts for 8 per cent of all radio listening, “which is phenomenal”, says Cox. By comparison, pure-play accounts for just a fraction of all listening in Ireland.

But with Spotify building up 65,000 listeners in the three months since its launch in the Republic and rumours that Apple will launch its own “radio” service this year, Cox expects pure-play will grow to a whopping 20 per cent of the market by 2020.

It’s a prediction that should sound a few alarm bells for music-led FM radio services that fail to get involved in the sector.

“Any station that relies exclusively on music for listeners is going to struggle.”