If you’ve ever assumed that “everyone streams music now,” you’re not alone.
According to new research from Edison Research’s Q2 2026 Share of Ear study, many advertisers dramatically overestimate the size—and value—of Spotify’s advertising audience while underestimating the reach of AM/FM radio.
The findings, analyzed by Cumulus Media and Westwood One’s Audio Active Group, offer an important reminder for businesses in Northern Utah and Southern Idaho: successful marketing decisions should be driven by audience data, not personal preferences.
As former Havas Media CEO Collin Kinsella puts it:
“The biggest risk for radio is the 26-year-old media planner who lives in New York or Chicago and does not commute by car and does not listen to radio and thus does not think anyone else listens to radio.”
That advice applies just as much to local businesses creating their own marketing plans.
The Biggest Marketing Mistake: “Take the Me Out of Media”
One of the report’s most memorable recommendations is simple:
“Take the ‘me’ out of media.”
Business owners often assume their customers consume media the same way they do.
If you pay for Spotify Premium, scroll social media constantly, or stream everything on demand, it’s easy to believe that’s how everyone spends their day.
The research says otherwise.
Advertisers surveyed believed Spotify represented about 25% of all audio listening.
The reality?
Its ad-supported service—the only version where advertisers can actually place ads—accounts for just 6% of audio listening.
By comparison, AM/FM radio commands a 62% share of ad-supported audio, making it roughly 10 times larger than Spotify’s ad-supported audience.
That’s a significant difference when you’re trying to reach customers across Cache Valley and Northern Utah.
Most Spotify Listening Isn’t Available to Advertisers
One of the study’s biggest findings surprises many marketers.
While Spotify has hundreds of millions of users, 78% of listening among adults 25-54 occurs on its ad-free subscription service.
Those listeners never hear advertising.
Only 22% of Spotify listening is ad-supported, a dramatic decline from a decade ago when more than half of Spotify listening included ads.
That’s an important distinction because advertisers often talk about Spotify’s overall popularity—not the portion where advertising is actually possible.
The Audience May Not Be Who You Think
The study also found that Spotify’s ad-supported audience looks very different from its subscription audience.
According to Edison Research:
- 59% of Spotify’s ad-supported impressions come from households earning less than $50,000 annually.
- Only 15% come from households earning more than $100,000.
- Just 40% of ad-supported users work full time.
- Fewer have completed a four-year college degree compared to Spotify Premium subscribers.
In other words, the people paying for Spotify Premium—the audience many marketers personally belong to—are largely not the same audience exposed to Spotify advertising.
Scale Still Matters
For businesses, marketing isn’t just about finding an audience—it’s about finding enough of the right audience.
The report found that:
- Digital audio platforms (Spotify, Pandora, and podcasts combined) reach only 32% of Americans in a typical day.
- Adding AM/FM radio increases that daily reach to 74%.
That’s why the report concludes:
“To achieve scale in an audio buy, it is essential to have AM/FM radio on the media plan.”
For local businesses trying to build awareness across Cache Valley, Logan, and surrounding communities, broad reach remains one of the biggest advantages of radio advertising.
Radio Still Owns the Drive to Purchase
The report also reinforces something we’ve written about before: the vehicle remains one of the most valuable advertising environments available.
Edison found that AM/FM radio captures 82% of all ad-supported in-car audio listening among adults.
Even among adults ages 18-34—often assumed to be dominated by streaming—radio still accounts for 75% of ad-supported in-car listening.
Those are valuable moments because listeners are commuting, running errands, shopping, dining out, and making purchase decisions throughout the day.
For local advertisers, reaching consumers while they’re already on the road in Northern Utah can be especially powerful.
What This Means for Local Businesses
The lesson isn’t that Spotify or podcasts shouldn’t be part of your digital marketing strategy.
Instead, the research reinforces that the strongest campaigns combine multiple channels based on actual audience behavior—not assumptions.
For many Cache Valley businesses, that means using trusted local radio personalities, targeted digital products, streaming, social media, and online advertising together to build awareness throughout the customer journey.
Radio delivers the broad local reach. Digital platforms add precision targeting and retargeting. Together, they create marketing campaigns that are both scalable and measurable.
The Bottom Line
The newest Share of Ear research reminds marketers to challenge common assumptions.
Consumers don’t always use media the way advertisers think they do.
Before shifting your entire marketing budget toward the latest platform, it’s worth asking a simple question:
Where are your customers actually spending their time?
Increasingly, the data continues to show they’re still spending plenty of it listening to local radio.
If you’re looking to build a marketing strategy that reaches customers across Cache Valley, Logan, Northern Utah, and Southern Idaho, the marketing consultants at Cache Valley Media Group can help you combine trusted local radio with digital products, social media, streaming, and targeted marketing solutions to maximize your results.
Source: Edison Research’s Q2 2026 Share of Ear study, analyzed by Cumulus Media | Westwood One Audio Active Group, with audience perception research from Advertiser Perceptions.
