Audacy has just released their second “State of Audio” e-book that details key insights relevant to the listeners, creators and advertisers revolutionizing audio.

The report focuses on the disruptors of audio – the people, strategies and content that are shaping Audio’s upward trajectory and rise to a must have medium for marketers’ media plans. 

Listeners

Let’s start here – the best disruptors in the audio game. Listeners are the mix masters of the new Audio cocktails that suit their time and their tastes. Shake up emerging technology, evolving habits, and exciting new content, add a tiny umbrella (optional), and you have the Audio listener of 2022: more passionate, more curious, more there than ever.

Loyalty has shifted from listeners’ favorite platforms to their favorite content. They’ll follow their most-loved stories and personalities everywhere and anywhere they go. They look for quality, authenticity, and flexibility, experiences that feel true and fit into their hectic schedule. That’s why Audio is essential to them. Today’s listeners flow in and out of Audio all day, on whatever platform fits each moment: to be entertained by a favorite funny host, get lost in a true-crime drama, or catch up with the day’s breaking news. Nothing offers them quality, authenticity, and flexibility the way Audio does.

That’s the real key to engaging across over-the-air radio, digital, and podcast platforms. It’s also why the rise of the cross-platform listener is arguably the consumer trend with the biggest opportunity for advertisers in 2022.

Advertisers

Speaking of advertisers, finding your target audience is one thing, keeping their attention is another. Obviously, folks who hear and remember your message are far more likely to act than those whose eyes and ears are wandering.

That’s why we say that attention is the new gauge of value. Audiences are growing ever more fragmented, and TV inventory is dwindling. We’re all on multiple devices all day and night. In this world, Audio can be your new BFF: brand focus facilitator. (Hey, we tried.) On every level, Audio is a high-powered engagement machine that grabs and holds consumers’ attention like no other medium. And according to our Audio Amplification: Engaged Impressions study, Audio is more immersive than linear TV and social media.

Creators

Of course, listeners and advertisers aren’t the only ones contributing to the Audio boom. True disruption comes from those who are reinventing the very nature of what ends up in our ears: the creators. They’re changing things up, reeling in passionate audiences as they revolutionize with new formats, fast-trending topics, and evolving listener behaviors. With a low barrier to entry and an increasing listener appetite for unique experiences, star-powered podcasts, micro influencers and revolutionary radio influencers are grabbing the mic and captivating their audiences.

“Audio is a trusted companion to hundreds of millions of listeners and more than any other medium, the best way creators across the globe connect with their audiences authentically and intimately at scale,” said Paul Suchman, Chief Marketing Officer, Audacy. “Our second edition of the “State of Audio, The Disruptors: The Listeners, Advertisers, and Creators Revolutionizing Audio” focuses on the people, strategies, and content shaping Audio’s meteoric rise as a must have media for marketers.”

Some key metrics from the guide include:

Check out Audacy’s “State of Audio: The Disruptors: The Listeners, Advertisers, and Creators Revolutionizing Audio” here.