What are the differences between listening and hearing?

This distinction between "listening" and "exposure" is most practically one between "listening" and "hearing." And the consequences for this difference are profound.

"Listening" is active. "Hearing" is passive. "Listening," therefore, is an act of will. "Hearing" can simply happen without desire or intention or interest or preference. "Listening" is emotional. "Hearing" is passionless. "Listening" means getting deep in the experience. "Hearing" means never getting beyond the glossy exterior. "Listening" means listeners will seek out programming. "Hearing" means the programming has to seek out the listener. "Listening" means you tune in specifically for something. "Hearing" means you're listening in part to avoid hearing something - namely anything other than what constitutes a passive listening experience (e.g., commercials, clutter, chit-chat, etc.) "Listening" means marketing can be brand-building and strategic. "Hearing" means marketing is mostly tactical, moving listeners from station to station for a time the way coupons move shoppers at the market. For "hearers" just doing marketing is more important than what the marketing demands of you. It's the impact that matters more than the message. "Listening" means I know and care about you. "Hearing" means I only care about me and I don't even want to know you. "Listening" means I'm tuned in for my favorite songs or personalities. "Hearing" means the devil is not at all in the details but in the simplicity of the brand overall and the degree to which it fulfills its basic expectation. "Listening" means your station will develop fans. "Hearing" means you will attract aisle-browsers.
Listening is actively paying attention.

Hearing is passive and involuntary for anyone that CAN hear.