A recent study which looks at music habits during car trips has once again confirmed that the humble radio is still the most popular form of audio entertainment during car journeys in 2019.
The survey which was a part of a wider campaign called ‘Blame it on the boogie’ by Manchester-based contract hire and leasing firm All Car Leasing asked over 600 UK drivers aged between 18 and 65+ what their preference was on a journey. 57.6% of respondents answered with the radio, followed by own music (CDs, Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music etc) with 43% and then nothing at all at 18.5%.
Considering the rate at which in-car entertainment (ICE) is evolving it is a little surprising that radio is still so dominant despite most vehicles now able to play music via Bluetooth, Android Auto and Apple Car Play giving drivers the ability to play whatever they want. Moreover, perhaps the second most surprising statistic is just how many prefer the sound of silence to…well anything.
I don’t know about you but I can’t stand the sound of silence when I am driving with all the traffic, beeping and hearing other people’s music!
Following on from this, we did some separate research and found that Rajar.co.uk state that 89% of the population still tune in to the radio at least once a week, even though the graph also showed a decline in radio usage every year since 2017. However, Rajar found that 65% of the population tune into digital radio (DAB) every week and it has been growing every year since 2012. DAB now being the standard way to tune in for most vehicles. Interestingly, only 24% of DAB listeners tune in the car.
This begs me to ask the question for the readers – what do you listen to (and how) during a car journey with and without the kids? Presumably us parents would need to adapt depending on the passengers – I’m sure I’m not alone in saying that children wouldn’t tolerate a podcast or an audiobook but if we’re alone it could give us much needed quiet time?
All Car Leasing also found that those who prefer listening to the radio are also the most likely group of people to be caught speeding. 51% of respondents who choose the radio have been caught speeding making them as a group 22% more likely to be caught.
I’ve only just touched on this campaign as it does delve into a lot more than what I’ve covered so I’d recommend taking a look at the cool infographic they made to support blame it on the boogie which I’ve added below or even listen to their podcast episode discussing this campaign which features the lads who did the research themselves!
Blame it on the boogie by All Car Leasing
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