Since 2014, when Edison Research launched Share of Ear®, total daily audio time among people in the U.S. ages 13+ has hovered around four hours. Further exploration into Share of Ear, the only audio measurement tool that tracks all listening platforms, shows significant differences in time spent with audio by age groups.
Share of Ear shows that 13-34 year-olds spend the most daily time listening to audio compared to people 35-54 and 55+. As of Q1 2026, 13-34 year-olds spend four hours and thirty minutes with audio daily. It’s important to note that people between the ages of 35 and 54 also spend a significant portion of their day with audio, at four hours and three minutes. Americans 55+ also devote a respectable amount of time to audio listening daily, at three hours and seventeen minutes. Daily time spent listening to audio includes consumption of AM/FM Radio and radio streams, streaming music, music videos on YouTube, podcasts (including video podcasts), SiriusXM, owned music, audiobooks, and TV music channels.
A full subscription to Share of Ear not only lets users understand how much time different groups spend with audio daily, but how that time is divided amongst various platforms, locations, and types of content. Keep reading this newsletter to see more interesting datapoints from Share of Ear and contact our team to learn more about access to the dataset.
