• by MaryLeigh Bliss , Columnist, September 11, 2015

Streaming services, favorite artists and genres, purchasing vs downloading ... there's a lot to know about young consumers and how passionately they feel about music. In a recent monthly survey of Millennials and teens, we asked 1,000 13-32 year olds a slew of questions about where they’re getting their music, what role it plays in their lives, and more. Listen up: here are three stats on their music obsessions to know.

1. 7 in 10 13-32 year olds say they would not be able to get through one week without music.

That number goes up to 77% for females, and 76% for 13-17 year olds. When we look at the responses of different races, African American/Black respondents are the most likely to say they couldn’t make it through a week without music, with 81% saying so. This isn’t the only indication we have of the vital role that music plays in young consumers’ lives: 80% agree that music is an important part of their life, and 59% say that music is a part of how they define who they are.

2. 79% say their tastes do not fall into one specific music genre.

It seems that Millennials are a genre-less generation. When we look at the genres of music they say they like a lot, their taste is eclectic. Though rock and pop come out on top with 46% and 45% saying they like them respectively, 35% say they like alternative a lot, 32% say they like hip hop/rap a lot, and 26% say they like indie a lot. Classical, country, R&B, and dance music all received a nearly equal percentage, and 35% marked other, and named everything from trap to oldies. Only 11% tell us they listen to only one genre of category of music.

3. YouTube is their top music source.

Millennials are at the forefront of the mobile revolution, and it’s that revolution that has fueled the biggest shift in music consumption: streaming. At this point, streaming is not news, but the industry continues to grow. But while many Millennials and teens are using streaming services that provide them the curated and varied music collections they want, when they want them, the majority are turning to an “old” standby for their music streaming needs: 63% say that they regularly use YouTube to listen to music, compared to 53% who use Pandora, and 41% who use Spotify.