Let's Hear It for the 25%

When Porter founded 8tracks in 2006, it was the original mood playlist service. Users uploaded their self-created playlists, and the result was a platform ripe for a passive, or “lean-back,” music-discovery experience historically associated with TV or radio. In the digital music landscape, Pandora is the best known example of lean-back listening.

Elizabeth Moody, Pandora’s vice-president of global content licensing, said that the reality is most people actually want to be told what to listen to. “Regardless whether you’re a Spotify or Pandora subscriber, we’re learning that roughly 75 percent of people’s behavior is lean back,” she said. It’s only really when people are hanging out with friends or creating playlists for specific events that they’re actively seeking out specific music. (Anna Codrea-Rado, emphasis mine)

I'm happy to tell people what to listen to....