Can beer preferences determine listening habits?

With more than six million people heading to Munich each year to take part in the late September festivities, Oktoberfest is a huge cultural event. This is no doubt why, during last year’s Oktoberfest, streams of playlists celebrating the world’s largest Volksfest jumped 100%.¹

But how does Oktoberfest stack up to another big German festival, Cologne Carnival? Like Oktoberfest, Cologne Festival is its own huge event, complete with crazy costumes, parades, and free-flowing Kölsch ― and its main festivities are concentrated in the second week of February.

Cologne Carnival streamers are older

Overall, we found that 25-34 year olds over-index for Cologne Carnival, whereas 18-34 year olds over-index for Oktoberfest. (Safe to say that Cologne Carnival attracts a slightly more mature crowd.)²

Cologne Carnival streamers are more local

In comparison to Cologne Carnival, Oktoberfest has more of an international audience with 40% of streams coming from outside of Germany. (Think biergartens across the US!) Meanwhile, over 85% of Cologne Carnival playlist streams occur in Germany.

This is also true of playlist listeners within Germany. 38% of Cologne Carnival streams in Germany occur in Cologne, where the festival is located. Meanwhile, only 28% of Oktoberfest playlist streams in Germany occur in Munich. (Where’s the pride, Munich?)

Early birds vs. night owls

In terms of timing, we also see a few differences. Cologne Carnival streams spike at 11:11am, which is when the Cologne Carnival starts on its first day. Oktoberfest streams are distributed more evenly into the late hours of the night.

To learn more about how marketers use playlist and real-time insights, like these, to reach their audience in meaningful moments, take a look at our some of our recent case studies. And don’t forget to check out these Oktoberfest and Cologne Carnival playlists when you are sipping your Oktoberfestbier or Kölsch!