The Multicultural Opportunity of Internet Radio

Listening to radio is a favorite activity of Hispanics and African Americans. In particular, listening to the radio has a long tradition in Latin America where radio is the town crier and the central point of communities where people find lost items, find jobs, get announcements, news, etc. Clearly also, music is a great part of the tradition of listening to the radio. I have been curious as to whether or not Internet radio has continued that tradition or not.

In Spring 2011 a Multicultural Marketing study at Florida State University asked consumers of different cultural backgrounds to tell us “In an average week about how many hours do you spend listening to Internet radio like Pandora or Last.fm in English” and also “in another language.”

We found that those consumers who are online are listening to Internet radio to a surprising extent. In English, African Americans and Hispanics who prefer to communicate in English are the most avid listeners. But when it comes to listening in another language the picture is interesting if not surprising.

Those who are more likely to use a language besides English seem to have some attachment to Internet radio in their native language. Hispanics who prefer Spanish are particularly keener on listening to Internet radio in Spanish. And remember, that besides Pandora, Last.fm, and others, there are radio outlets like Batanga.com that specialize in Spanish language and Latin music.

It is interesting to notice that there is a noticeable predilection for Internet radio among emerging minorities.

Online Latinos who prefer Spanish spend almost six hours per week listening to Internet radio, compared with about four hours for Hispanics who prefer English and African Americans. Asians spend about two and a half hours, and non-Hispanic Whites spend the least amount of time in this endeavor.

Internet radio as an emerging medium and a promising advertising vehicle, is being favored by Hispanics and emerging minorities to a larger extent than by the shrinking non-Hispanic White population.

Source: Marketing Trends in a New Multicultural Society, “The Multicultural Opportunity of Internet Radio” blog by Felipe Korzenny, Wednesday, August 31, 2011.