Music ADHD: Users LOVE The Skip Button, says Spotify Data Scientist
It's as if attention deficit hyperactivity disorder is running rampant among music fans. 24% of Spotify users hit the skip button within the first 5 seconds of a song starting, according to a study by The EchoNest/Spotify's Paul Lamere. A disturbing 48.6% of Spotify users use the skip button before the song ends; and music's ADHD problem is worse among younger music listeners.
"The skip button is now a big part of the overall listening experience," says Lamere. "Don’t like a song? Skip it. Never heard a song? Skip it. Just heard a song? Skip it."
The average listener skips 14.65 times every hour, according to the study. On average, a listener is skipping a song once every four minutes.
The Younger You Are, The More You Skip
Teens have the highest skip rate – above 50%. As the listener gets older skip rates drop to about 35%. "Interestingly, the skipping rate rises again for people in their late 40s and early 50s," says Lumere. "The first theory is that the skipping rate is a indication of how much free time a person has time. Teenagers skip more because they have more time to devote to editing their music stream, whereas thirty-somethings, with their little kids and demanding jobs, have no time to pay attention to their music players. The second theory, suggested by Spotify über-analyst Chris Tynan, is that the late-forties skipping resurgence is caused by teenagers that use their parent’s account."
Read the full study here.
