BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC FANS Outcome Paper Bret S. Ewen Berklee College of Music June 27, 2014       ABSTRACT BEHAVIORAL CHARACTERISTICS OF ELECTRONIC MUSIC FANS by Bret S. Ewen Berklee College of Music, 2014 Valencia, Spain Advisor: Alexandre Perrin Key phrases: electronic music, consumer behavior, quantitative survey A survey was undertaken in which 4,404 respondents participated to share their behavioral habits with regard to their interaction with music and its marketplace. Analysis of the responses was performed in order to discover relevant differences in behavior between those who identify as electronic music fans and those who identify as fans of other genres. Various behaviors were questioned in relation to listening habits, social media engagement, spending history, willingness to pay, and more. The data show that electronic music fans do behave differently from fans of other genres in a variety of respects (e.g. price expectations, music format preferences, and social media habits – among others). The data have the potential to be useful in aiding the development of business and marketing strategies for artists, record labels, and others by providing a more accurate view of the marketplace.       Table of Contents Page I. Introduction .............................................................................................. 1 II. Methods & Materials .............................................................................. 3 a) Collection Process ....................................................................... 3 b) Analysis Process ......................................................................... 4 III. Selected Results & Discussion ............................................................. 4 a) Format & Pricing Preferences ................................................... 4 b) Listening Habits ........................................................................ 7 c) Spending & Sharing ................................................................... 9 d) Streaming Platform Preferences .............................................. 9 IV. Conclusions ............................................................................................. 10 a) Overview ..................................................................................... 10 b) Limitations & New Research...................................................... 11     V. Bibliography ............................................................................................ 13 VI. Appendix .................................................................................................. 14   1   I. Introduction Due to improvements in information technology, niche and segmented areas of music now have greater accessibility and availability to consumers than ever before. With the increase in the amount and variation of available goods comes a need to understand the particular characteristics of consumers in each segment of the market. This research focused on discovering the behavioral tendencies unique to those people who identify primarily as electronic music fans. The motivation to conduct this research stemmed from several music industry reports and other studies that have shown that the business and the consumers surrounding electronic music have certain characteristics that differ from the rest of the music market. This research aimed to expand upon the existing information and provide a deeper analysis of why this is the case. The intention was to find answers for any previously observed cross-genre behavioral anomalies as well as to explore other potential differences in behavior not yet studied. One example highlighting the differences between electronic music and other genres was a 2012 Nielsen industry report which showed that digital track sales of electronic music grew 36% that year while over all digital track sales growth for the industry was a mere 5%.1 An assumption was made that in order to achieve such a relatively high level of growth, consumers of electronic music must be behaving differently than consumers of other styles of music.                                                                                                                 1. Nielsen Holdings. “The Nielsen Company & Billboard’s 2012 Music Industry Report.” BusinessWire.com. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130104005149/en/NielsenCompany-Billboard%E2%80%99s-2012-Music-Industry-Report (accessed June 20, 2014).           2   Upon further investigation, this assumption was supported by a 2013 study performed by ticketing company Eventbrite in partnership with the Harris Interactive Service Bureau. The study took the form of a survey of 1,019 respondents through which they were able to show some clear differences in the behavioral patterns of electronic music fans compared to fans of other genres. For instance, the study found that 67% of electronic music fans heard about the events that they attended via social media compared to only 40% for “other” concertgoers.2 The study also found that 73% of electronic music fans report that seeing friends post about attending an event on various social media platforms makes them want to attend the event more. This was compared to other music fans where only 36% held the same response.3 Several other sources of information served indirectly to raise questions that could potentially be answered by performing this research. For example, the Ibiza International Music Summit (IMS) reported in 2013 that popular electronic DJ, Hardwell, increased his number of social media followers per day by 300% while performing at Ultra Music Festival in 2013. 4 This raised the more philosophical question of whether social media was promoting the live performance or vice versa, which then led to the bigger question of trying to decipher what role social media actually plays in the eyes of the consumer. Is that role consistent throughout all music genres? The ambiguity of the purpose                                                                                                                 2. “EDM Fans: Not Your Average Music Fans.” Eventbrite.com. http://blog.eventbrite.com/edm-fans-are-not-your-average-music-fan/ (accessed June 20, 2014). 3. “EDM Fans: Not Your Average Music Fans.” Eventbrite.com 4. Watson, Kevin. “IMS Business Report 2013.” InternationalMusicSummit.com. http://www.internationalmusicsummit.com/img/stand_alone_files/file/original/imsbusiness-report-2013-final2-10.pdf (accessed June 20, 2014).         3   of social media has been called into question before by the online magazine Social Media Examiner, who found that only 26% of marketers agreed that they are able to accurately measure the ROI from their efforts on social media.5 With no clear answer as to what social media is achieving, why are so many artists active across a whole spectrum of different platforms? By attempting to shed light onto these and other issues concerning the music business (and specifically electronic music), results were uncovered that can potentially be used by artists, record labels, distribution companies, marketers, and others in order to better serve the greater community of music fans. A better understanding of consumers can improve the health of the music industry ecosystem by providing more valuable products, more appropriate distribution methods, and more agreeable pricing strategies. II. Methods & Materials Collection Process A survey was chosen as the sole data collection tool in order to most efficiently collect both quantitative and qualitative data The design of the survey allowed for closed responses for quick, easily-categorized data alongside open responses for a deeper understanding of the thought processes of the respondents. The running length of the survey was 14 days. It was created and delivered on the SurveyMonkey platform and distributed through individual inperson requests, as well as online through more than 60 forums and                                                                                                                 5. Stelzner, Michael A. “2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.” SocialMediaExaminer.com. (pg. 10) http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2013.pdf (accessed June 20, 2014).       4   communities. Music and audio related forums were targeted specifically, however other communities deemed to have an interest were also selected to participate. Throughout the distribution of the survey, the researcher was actively responding to questions and concerns from participants in order to clear any confusion and to help direct respondents if necessary. Analysis Process Most of the data analysis found in the appendix uses straight-forward, standard practices to calculate percentages, however there are still several key points to understanding the calculations and assigned definitions (for exampled exactly how “Electronic Fans” and “Other Genre Fans” are defined. Information pertaining to each question containing procedural oddities or otherwise useful information is available in the appendix for each question with a section labeled “methodology”. III. Selected Results & Discussion Format & Pricing Preferences In question 2, respondents were asked, “Would you buy music that is legally available to stream for free?” The data showed that 31.77% of Electronic Fans would still purchase a digital format of music that is also legally available to be streamed, whereas 18.23% would still buy a physical format (e.g. CD or vinyl). This is in contrast to Other Genre Fans, where the percentages were nearly the reverse (20.95% would purchase digital and 33.42% would purchase physical). This data may seem counterintuitive considering the large number of electronic       5   music DJs who perform with either vinyl or CDs. Figure 1 shows a visualization of the discrepancy between the genre categories. The percentage of fans that would not purchase music if it were available for streaming is significantly closer to being consistent across genres. Figure 1. Comparison of responses to question 2 from Electronic Fans and Other Genre Fans. 40%! 35%! 30%! 25%! 20%! 15%! 10%! 5%! 0%! Yes, Digital! Yes, Physical! Electronic Fans! No! It Depends! Other Genre Fans! In question 4, respondents were asked, “When you purchase music, which formats do you seek?” Electronic Fans showed a higher preference for high quality digital formats (320kbps MP3 and .WAV/uncompressed/lossless), while Other Genre Fans showed a stronger preference for physical formats (CD and vinyl) as well as lower quality digital formats (128kbps MP3). The visualization of this data can be seen in Figure 2. This data is supported by the results of question 2. In both questions, Electronic Fans showed a higher propensity towards digital than Other Genre Fans.       6   Figure 2. Comparison of responses to question 4 from Electronic Fans and Other Genre Fans. 128kbps  MP3   320kbps  MP3   Uncompressed/Lossless   CD   Vinyl   0%   10%   20%   Electronic   30%   40%   50%   60%   70%   80%   Other  Genres   Questions 2 and 4 have already established a preference for digital among Electronic Fans. In question 5, respondents were asked to specify what they consider to be a reasonable price for the formats mentioned in question 4. The data showed that Electronic Fans are willing to pay more than the rest of the market for the high quality digital formats that they desire. The reverse was also true in that Other Genre Fans were willing to pay more for the formats that they desired (physical and low-quality digital). Table 1 shows that preferred price variations for digital can be as much as $0.24 and variations for physical can be as much as $1.01.       7   Table 1. Average prices ($USD) for each format based on responses given to question 5 (“What do you consider a reasonable price for the following formats?), separated by music fan category. Avg. Price (Electronic Avg. Price (Other Format Fans) Genre Fans) 128kbps MP3 $0.63 $0.73 320kbps MP3 $1.07 $0.99 .WAV (or other uncompressed/lossless format) $1.35 $1.11 CD $9.90 $10.11 Vinyl $15.41 $16.42 Electronic fans were willing to pay $0.06 more for a high quality lossless digital file than the highest price that iTunes charges in the U.S. ($1.29) for their standard lossy format offerings.6 As shown, Other Genre Fans were not willing to pay more. Listening Habits In question 7 respondents were asked “How many different artists do you listen to in a given week?” The data showed that electronic fans are listening to a wider variety of artists. The most common answer for Electronic Fans was 20-50 artists, whereas the most common answer for Other Genre Fans was only 5-20 artists. Electronic Fans were also more likely to listen to 50+ artists, the highest category available. Figure 3 shows a visualization of the comparison of both genre categories.                                                                                                                 6. “iTunes Plus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” Apple.com. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1711 (accessed June 25, 2014)       8   Figure 3. Comparison of responses to question 4 (“How many different artists do you listen to in a given week?”) from Electronic Fans and Other Genre Fans. 50%   40%   30%   20%   10%   0%   1-­‐5  Artists   5-­‐20   Electronic   20-­‐50   50+   Other  Genres   Similarly, in question 8 respondents were asked “How many hours per day do you spend engaged in listening to music?” Again, Electronic Fans beat out Other Genre Fans. The most common answer for Electronic Fans was 3-6 hours, while the most common answer for Other Genre Fans was only 1-3 hours. Electronic Fans were also more likely than their counterparts to listen to 6+ hours of music per day (the highest category). This data is visualized in Figure 4. Note the similarities between Figure 3 and Figure 4. Figure 4. Comparison of responses to question 4 (“How many hours per day do you spend engaged in listening to music?”) from each genre category. 50%   40%   30%   20%   10%   0%   <  1  hour   1-­‐3   Electronic       3-­‐6   Other  Genres   >  6     9   Spending & Sharing Respondents were asked to approximate how much money they have spent on recorded music in the past year. Despite listening to more artists and spending more time listening to music in general, Electronic Fans spent less on average than Other Genre Fans. Electronic Fans reported spending $146.70, while Other Genre Fans reported spending $174.40. As Table 22 of the appendix shows, a difference in income between the two fan groups does not appear to be the differentiating factor. On the other hand, when asked how many times per month that they share music on social media, Electronic fans reported an average of 8.73 shares per month, while Other Genre Fans reported an average of only 6.04 shares. Electronic Fans are spending less, but sharing more. This calls into the question the contribution value of each fan. Although there is less money coming from each individual Electronic Fan, they are performing significantly more marketing for the music they enjoy. This social marketing certainly has a value in recruiting new fans to the genre, which in turn produces a higher quantity of fans, albeit at a lower contribution value per fan. Streaming Platform Preferences Perhaps the greatest difference between Electronic Fans and Other Genre Fans found in the entire study was between the preferred streaming platforms of each fan category. Electronic Fans heavily favored SoundCloud, while Other Genre Fans favored YouTube, with SoundCloud trailing behind in 3rd place. Table 20 shows the breakdown by fan category for each streaming platform. The cause of this discrepancy is unknown, as all four platforms cater to all styles of music.       10   Table 2. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 14 of the survey, excluding “other” responses* separated by music fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Spotify 20.62% 34.40% YouTube 26.94% 38.86% SoundCloud 46.01% 13.97% Pandora 6.43% 12.76% IV. Conclusions Overview From the data, there are several key points. First, Electronic Fans have shown themselves to be a much more “digital” crowd. They more strongly prefer higher quality digital formats of recorded music. Additionally, they are willing to pay more than Other Genre Fans to obtain those high quality digital files. Unsurprisingly, they are less willing to pay for physical formats such as CDs and vinyl records. Even if the music they desire is available to stream, Electronic Fans are still more likely to purchase the high quality digital files (if available) than they are to refrain from purchasing the music all together. As seen by questions 7 and 8, not only are electronic fans listening to more music, but also they are listening to more artists overall – not just repeating their favorites. They are discovering more and consuming more than Other Genre Fans.       11   Electronic Fans have also shown that they are individually contributing less money per year to recorded music than Other Genre Fans. However, they are sharing music more often via social media. The relative value of social media shares to dollars is unknown, but undoubtedly sharing does provide some indirect financial contribution. Lastly, Electronic Fans have shown a unique preference for the online streaming of music. While SoundCloud was preferred roughly three times less than YouTube for Other Genre Fans, it was the most preferred platform overall for Electronic Fans. Limitations & New Research During the course of this research, several areas appeared which could be investigated further. The primary topic found by the researcher to be of interest is the relationship between social media sharing and financial contribution. Social media sharing is a form of marketing for artists, and marketing certainly has value in generating sales of music. The key piece of information is how much sharing does it take to indirectly generate a certain amount of money. This question is undoubtedly very complex and could be looked into more deeply in new research to try to discover a monetary value in social media sharing. Other topics to look into could be the relationship between streaming platforms and what causes a divide in preferences among genres. The streaming platforms in this research were not found to explicitly cater to any one genre more than another, but perhaps there are some underlying features, some aspect of marketing, or something else that tends to skew the genre preference of the listeners.       12   The form of this research as a mostly quantitative survey is limited in several ways, which could also call for more research to be completed using different methodology. The self-reporting involved in this research is prone to bias issues from respondents. If new quantitative analysis is undertaken in the same vein, it would be possibly be more accurate under more controlled conditions, with a supervisor present. The collection of data via online distribution is also prone to biases. For example, some questions specifically about online forums and communities are obviously biased in that the survey respondents discovered the survey from that very same place. Of course this would lead to an over representation in the data. Additionally, there are many music fans that do not frequent any online forums at all, and thus would be excluded from the data. A better method would be to conduct a random sampling. However, some the biases involved were mitigated by being able to obtain a large sample size – one so large that for the time constraints of this research would not have been possible. This was a strength of this particular research as well as a weakness. Regardless, there are many new opportunities to expand upon the ideas drawn from the data.       13   V. Bibliography Nielsen Holdings. “The Nielsen Company & Billboard’s 2012 Music Industry Report.” BusinessWire.com. http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20130104005149/en/NielsenCompany-Billboard%E2%80%99s-2012-Music-Industry-Report (accessed June 20, 2014). “EDM Fans: Not Your Average Music Fans.” Eventbrite.com. http://blog.eventbrite.com/edm-fans-are-not-your-average-music-fan/ (accessed June 20, 2014). Watson, Kevin. “IMS Business Report 2013.” InternationalMusicSummit.com. http://www.internationalmusicsummit.com/img/stand_alone_files/file/original/imsbusiness-report-2013-final2-10.pdf (accessed June 20, 2014). Stelzner, Michael A. “2013 Social Media Marketing Industry Report.” SocialMediaExaminer.com. (pg. 10) http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/SocialMediaMarketingIndustryReport2013.pdf (accessed June 20, 2014). “iTunes Plus Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)” Apple.com. http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1711 (accessed June 25, 2014)       14   VI. Appendix Question 1 Data Question: “Of the following, what is your preferred genre of music?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,991 respondents were able to identify primarily with one of the listed genres. Table 3a. Percentage of responses for each genre option given in Question 1 of the survey. Table 3b. Total number of “other” responses to Question 1 by type. % Selected Genre Total Rock 36.28% Metal 258 Electronic 25.76% Multiple / No Clear Response 36 Alternative / Indie 32 Hip-Hop 25.13% Other (< 3 responses each) 21 Jazz 4.31% Punk 15 Folk 3.16% Electronic (other) 13 Classical 2.15% Ska / Reggae 9 Pop 2.00% Blues 6 R&B 0.75% Post-Rock 5 Funk 3 Country 0.45% Prog Rock 3 Genre Methodology: Those who responded with “Electronic” are referred to throughout the rest of this document as “Electronic Fans”, while those who responded with “Rock”, “Hip-Hop”, “Jazz”, “Folk”, “Classical”, “Pop”, “R&B”, or “Country” are referred to as “Other Genre Fans”. These are the respondents who were used to make comparisons between Electronic Fans and Other Genre Fans. Those who failed to select a genre or who could not comfortably identify with only one genre were not used in any comparisons, but were taken into account for overall data. Those respondents are shown in Table 2.       15   Question 2 Data Question: “Would you buy music that is legally available to stream for free?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,989 (1,026 Electronic Fans & 2,963 Other Genre Fans) Table 4. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 2 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Yes, I would still buy a digital format. 31.77% 20.95% Yes, I would still buy a physical format. 18.23% 33.42% No, I would not buy it is can be streamed for free. 25.63% 22.20% It depends on… 24.37% 23.42% Selected Open Responses (943 Respondents): Response Option 4 (“It depends on…”) was given with an optional open response field. Below are common responses and comments of relevance (note: no trends were found that differed between fan categories) • • • • • • • • • • • •     “The artist” “If it is a small artist that I really enjoy” “Quality of free streaming” “I’d buy digital files if at least 75% of the cost went directly to the artist” “There being a lossless (FLAC) digital download available” “If the artist is independent or not” “If I know that the musician gets a majority of the money” “If I can get uncompressed files” “If I’m going to use those songs for DJing” “Price” “I only buy music from artists, not recording companies. If I like their music and they’re small, I’ll buy it.” “I buy music if it's from small, just-starting-off artists. If the musician is already famous and incredibly wealthy, I download.”   16   Question 3 Data Question: “Would you ever pay money for a "name your own price" album that could be legally downloaded for free?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,972 (1,024 Electronic Fans & 2,948 Other Genre Fans) Table 5. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 3 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Yes 80.47% 78.15% No 19.53% 21.85% Selected Open Responses (2,353 Respondents): An optional comment field for open responses was given to all respondents with the prompt “Why or why not?” Below are common responses or comments of relevance (note: no trends were found that differed between fan categories). From those who responded “Yes”: • “It seems like that kind of situation would be more common with a smaller, lesserknown artist, in which case I'd want to support them. If that artist a) hasn't had widespread success yet, b) isn't selling other merchandise to make money, and c) I enjoy their music, then I feel good about buying their music to support them.” • “Because I believe that it's more than just buying the music, it's about supporting the future of an up and coming music artist.” • “There seems to be more integrity behind this method of payment. Instead of promoting the illusion that the files/sounds themselves have scarcity/value, it's allowing the fans a chance to give a donation and support the artists whose music they like.” • “Because I make music and understand the costs (real and intrinsic) that go into producing music.” • “The level or respect and trust that sort of thing entails is good.” From those who responded “No”: • “Unless I am supporting a local or independent artist, I do not pay for music.” • “Because if it's free than I have what I want.”       17   Question 4 Data Question: “If you purchase music, which formats do you seek? (You may check more than one).” Question Type: Multiple-choice (multiple responses allowed) Total Respondents: 3,976 (1,024 Electronic Fans & 2,952 Other Genre Fans) Table 6. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 4 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Multiple answers were allowed, thus totals over 100% for each fan category. Response     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans 128kbps MP3 9.96% 15.18% 320kbps MP3 71.09% 60.20% .WAV (or other uncompressed/lossless format) 47.17% 28.35% CD 26.95% 46.44% Vinyl 25.20% 37.06% I never purchase music. 9.96% 8.77%   18   Question 5 Data Question: “What do you consider a reasonable price for the following formats? (Enter an amount in USD)” Question Type: Open response field for each listed format Total Respondents (varied for each format): • Format 1: 776 Electronic Fans & 2,212 Other Genre Fans • Format 2: 838 Electronic Fans & 2,261 Other Genre Fans • Format 3: 752 Electronic Fans & 1,999 Other Genre Fans • Format 4: 780 Electronic Fans & 2,407 Other Genre Fans • Format 5: 721 Electronic Fans & 2,203 Other Genre Fans Table 1. Average prices ($USD) for each format based on responses given to question 5 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Avg. Price (Electronic Avg. Price (Other Format Fans) Genre Fans) 128kbps MP3 $0.63 $0.73 320kbps MP3 $1.07 $0.99 .WAV (or other uncompressed/lossless format) $1.35 $1.11 CD $9.90 $10.11 Vinyl $15.41 $16.42 Methodology: 128kbps MP3, 320kbps MP3, and .WAV/Uncompressed/Lossless answers were capped at $5.00. It was apparent that some respondents did not notice those formats were marked as “singles”, but rather treated the price as a whole album. The limit was put in place to help mitigate any outliers. Additionally, as is the nature of an open response format question, there were typos involving decimal points as well as respondents who very obviously did not take the survey seriously. To combat these outliers, CD and Vinyl answers were capped at $50 and $100 respectively. Additionally, answers similar to “wouldn’t buy” were treated as $0.00. Some participants gave a price range, which was averaged. Other participants used currencies other than $USD. These were converted manually via Google’s integrated conversion system. Ambiguous answers were thrown out completely. Only answers where it was explicitly clear what the respondent intended were used, which forced a bit of subjectivity in the process. Due to these issues, it cannot confidently be said that these values represent an outright price at which each format should be sold, but it does show a difference in the willingness to pay between fans of different genres for different formats.       19   Question 6 Data Question: “How often do you use the following formats to discover new artists?” Question Type: Matrix of choices (only one rate response per discovery method) Total Respondents (varied for each discovery method): • Method 1: 1,018 Electronic Fans & 2,938 Other Genre Fans • Method 2: 1,018 Electronic Fans & 2,919 Other Genre Fans • Method 3: 1,018 Electronic Fans & 2,930 Other Genre Fans • Method 4: 1,011 Electronic Fans & 2,923 Other Genre Fans • Method 5: 1,017 Electronic Fans & 2,921 Other Genre Fans • Method 6: 1,014 Electronic Fans & 2,927 Other Genre Fans • Method 7: 1,008 Electronic Fans & 2,912 Other Genre Fans • Method 8: 1,011 Electronic Fans & 2,910 Other Genre Fans • Method 9: 1,009 Electronic Fans & 2,898 Other Genre Fans Method 1: Recommendations from friends Table 7. Rate responses to the “recommendations from friends” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 33.50% 28.32% At least once a month 39.78% 47.38% At least once a year 21.51% 19.50% Never 5.21% 4.80% Method 2: Recommendations from artists (e.g. through social media) Table 8. Rate responses to the “recommendations from artists” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 33.01% 15.83% At least once a month 37.13% 35.39% At least once a year 16.70% 29.09% Never 13.16% 19.70%   20   Method 3: Customized recommendations from “smart’ platforms (e.g. Pandora, iTunes Genius, Spotify “Discover”, etc.) Table 9. Rate responses to the “customized recommendations from ‘smart’ platforms” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 29.67% 25.49% At least once a month 26.92% 30.20% At least once a year 17.58% 21.37% Never 25.83% 22.94% Method 4: Music blogs Table 10. Rate responses to the “music blogs” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 27.00% 24.12% At least once a month 24.43% 25.52% At least once a year 19.68% 20.29% Never 28.88% 30.07% Method 5: Forums/online communities Table 11. Rate responses to the “forums/online communities” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 45.72% 43.31% At least once a month 29.70% 30.06% At least once a year 16.03% 15.71% Never 8.55% 10.92%   21   Method 6: Live shows Table 12. Rate responses to the “live shows” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 10.45% 6.39% At least once a month 22.39% 20.05% At least once a year 39.55% 46.05% Never 27.61% 27.50% Method 7: Festival lineups Table 13. Rate responses to the “festival lineups” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 7.74% 4.84% At least once a month 20.44% 13.02% At least once a year 36.90% 43.89% Never 34.92% 38.26% Method 8: Record label rosters Table 14. Rate responses to the “record label rosters” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 13.85% 4.98% At least once a month 23.34% 15.22% At least once a year 24.93% 29.14% Never 37.88% 50.65%   22   Method 9: Radio/podcasts Table 15. Rate responses to the “radio/podcasts” music discovery method in survey question 6 separated as a percentage of each fan category. Rate % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans At least once a week 26.66% 10.80% At least once a month 28.84% 27.09% At least once a year 23.29% 29.61% Never 21.21% 32.51% Selected Open Responses (330 Respondents): An additional comment field for “other” responses was given to all respondents with the prompt “please specify the source and frequency”. Below are some of the most common or relevant responses. More common to Electronic Fans: • Beatport • Remix competition submissions • DJ mixes More common to Other Genre Fans: • Physical CD stores • TV/Movie/Game soundtracks • Magazines • Bandcamp • Wikipedia • Public library • Collaborations between artists Common to both genre fan categories: • Hypemachine • YouTube • iTunes/Amazon/Online Retail • Torrents • SoundCloud       23   Question 7 Data Question: “How many different artists do you listen to in a given week?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,967 (1,023 Electronic Fans & 2,944 Other Genre Fans) Table 16. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 7 of the survey, separated by music fan category. # of Artists % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans 1-5 4.20% 5.94% 5-20 33.92% 43.61% 20-50 36.75% 35.77% 50+ 25.12% 14.67% Question 8 Data Question: “How many hours per day do you spend engaged in listening to music?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,973 (1,022 Electronic Fans & 2,951 Other Genre Fans) Table 17. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 8 of the survey, separated by music fan category. # of Hours     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Less than 1 3.72% 4.30% 1-3 34.74% 40.80% 3-6 36.69% 35.21% 6+ 24.85% 19.69%   24   Question 9 Data Question: “Would you be interested in paying for exclusive or limited edition material from an artist? (numbered/signed albums/merchandise, etc.)” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,956 (1,021 Electronic Fans & 2,935 Other Genre Fans) Table 18. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 9 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Yes 60.14% 62.90% No 39.86% 37.10% Selected Open Responses (2,424 Respondents): An additional comment field for open responses was given with the prompt “If yes, what would you like to be able to purchase? If no, why not?” Below are some common/relevant responses separated by response. From those who responded “Yes”: • “Acoustic versions” • “T-shirts” • “Exclusive material not for general release; promotes sense of 'closer' connection with the artist as well as feel-good factor generated from supporting the artist.” • “I'm a sucker for reissues/boxed sets/deluxe editions.” • “Limited edition posters, clothing, signed albums (if the price is reasonable)” • “Bonus tracks, special/limited edition CDs or vinyl, previews or first listen of new material, secret/exclusive concerts, pre-order tickets for upcoming concerts, exclusive merchandise e.g. t-shirts, tote bags, posters, etc.” • “Anything, really. As long as it isn't one of those obvious scams trying to get money out of you, like the old ‘Limited Vinyl Edition: Only 3,000,000 million copies made’ priced at 50+ dollars.” • “The closer my dollar gets to the actual artist, the better. I understand the necessity of production studios, but they'd be nothing without the vision and craft of their musicians. Supporting the artists directly will hopefully encourage them to make more of the music I enjoy.”       25   From those who responded “No”: • • • • • • “'Exclusive Content' is intrinsically worthless.” “It seems unfair to give special privileges to people with more spending money.” “I don't think musicians should be releasing music in a way that would exclude people. I understand limited pressings of vinyls/shirts etc. But I think the actual music should be available to anyone who wants to listen to it.” “I don't really idolize musicians, so I don't really seek out exclusive merchandise from them.” “I find the music more important than the people behind it for the most part.” “It just has little to no value, music comes and unfortunately, goes pretty damn fast. Sure having a signed album of a band is cool, but that's about it. I would never buy a numbered or commercially autographed record, because that's just gimmicky of a band to try to make money that way. Make money by making good music and selling 10 dollar records and selling out shows. I would want a story to tell with it (AKA brought 10yr old record to a show, met band, requested fav song off of the album, they sign it, to my name, I never forget that moment and have a piece of physical property to remind me of it)” Unique items of note for Electronic Fans: • “Stems for remixing” • “Dubplates” Most common words/phrases from text analysis: • “Signed” • “Numbered” • “Limited Edition”       26   Question 10 Data Question: “How does a heavy presence on social media affect your chances of following an artist's career? You may select more than one answer.” Question Type: Multiple-choice (multiple responses allowed) Total Respondents: 3,956 (1,023 Electronic Fans & 2,933 Other Genre Fans) Table 19. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 10 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Multiple answers were allowed, thus totals over 100% for each fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans It gives me a bond with the artist, which helps me to appreciate their music more. 36.07% 31.26% It’s functional by giving me timely updates about their new work. 63.15% 57.72% It’s irrelevant to whether I will listen to their music in the future – I will keep track regardless. 32.16% 36.65% None of the above. 7.82% 10.47% Selected Open Responses (864 Respondents): An additional comment field for open responses was given with the prompt “please elaborate”. Below are some common/relevant responses separated by response. From those who selected Response #1: • “If an artist has a more interesting personality then I may be more interested in their music.” • “If the artist regularly posts online then it makes it feel to me as if they are participating in the community they have created allowing us to talk to [them] and appreciate their work even more.” •     “I believe that who the artist is as a person can really dictate how much I enjoy their music and definitely will sway whether or not I make the effort to see the   27   artist's live performance. I attend a very high number of concerts and music festivals every year and occasionally meet these artists. The artists who I can personally relate with I will travel considerable distance just to see a one night show.” From those who selected Response #2: • “I don't keep close track of social media, but if an artist that I've subscribed to shows up in my SoundCloud news feed, I will usually click on them out of curiosity...” • “I don't really follow artist on social media unless I'm looking for live shows or new releases” • “I prefer social media to only be used for artists to post new content. I find it annoying when they try to post memes to gain attention.” • “An often updated social media presence will keep them relevant in my mind, especially if it's an artist I'm not huge about. If I see a post in my feed for example it might remind me I haven’t listened to them in a while - which might lead to me checking out what they're up to or listening to them.” From those who selected Response #3: • “Too much of a presence on a social media platform can get annoying, especially if they're always plugging their stuff.” • “Although this is merely a correlation, I tend to listen to artists who don't have a strong social presence with the exception of small specialized communities.” From those who selected Response #4: • “Artists too heavily advertising on the net are obnoxious.” • “I dislike social media and an artist having a heavy presence may cause me to avoid listening to or associating myself with them.”       28   Question 11 Data Question: “Approximately how much money ($USD) have you spent on recorded music in the past year?” Question Type: Open response Total Respondents: 3,740 (962 Electronic Fans & 2,778 Other Genre Fans) • • Average spent by Electronic Fans: $146.70 Average spent by Other Genre Fans $174.40 Methodology: As in question 5, ranges were averaged. Open-ended answers containing greater than or less than symbols were excluded for ambiguity. Anything not explicit was not included in the results. Question 12 Data Question: “Approximately how many times per month do you share music or post about a song/artist via social media?” Question Type: Open response Total Respondents: 3,396 (874 Electronic Fans & 2,522 Other Genre Fans) • • Average posts per month by Electronic Fans: 8.73 Average posts per month by Other Genre Fans: 6.04 Methodology: As in question 5, ranges were averaged. Open-ended answers containing greater than or less than symbols were excluded for ambiguity. Anything not explicit was not included in the results.       29   Question 13 Data Question: “Which social media platforms do you frequent? You may select more than one.” Question Type: Multiple-choice (multiple responses allowed) Total Respondents: 3,485 (895 Electronic Fans & 2,590 Other Genre Fans) Table 20. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 13 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Multiple answers were allowed, thus totals over 100% for each fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Facebook 89.61% 85.25% Twitter 44.25% 46.49% Instagram 29.39% 36.29% Google+ 8.83% 6.56% Tumblr 13.07% 14.79% Pinterest 3.02% 4.52% Selected Open Responses (1256 Respondents): An additional comment field was given to all respondents for “other” responses. 920 referenced Reddit.com. The open responses for this question are not used in any conclusion due to the obvious bias of distributing the survey primarily through Reddit.com.       30   Question 14 Data Question: “What is your favorite way to listen to music online?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,457 (902 Electronic Fans & 2,555 Other Genre Fans) Table 2. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 14 of the survey, excluding “other” responses* separated by music fan category. Response % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Spotify 20.62% 34.40% YouTube 26.94% 38.86% SoundCloud 46.01% 13.97% Pandora 6.43% 12.76% *No open responses for Other Genre Fans beat out Pandora. The top 2 contenders were Grooveshark, followed by Bandcamp. Similarly, no open responses for Electronic Fans beat out Pandora. The top 2 contenders were Bandcamp & Grooveshark, which were tied.       31   Question 15 Data Question: “What is your age?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,948 (1,019 Electronic Fans & 2,929 Other Genre Fans) Table 21. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 15 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Age     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans Under 18 12.07% 15.64% 18-30 76.05% 71.42% 31-45 10.70% 10.62% 46-65 1.18% 2.05% 65+ 0.00% 0.27%   32   Question 16 Data Question: “What is your approximate average household income?” Question Type: Multiple-choice (only one response allowed) Total Respondents: 3,876 (994 Electronic Fans & 2,882 Other Genre Fans) Table 22. Percentage of responses for each response option given in question 16 of the survey, separated by music fan category. Avg. Income     % of Electronic Fans % of Other Genre Fans $0-$24,999 33.30% 30.78% $25,000-$49,999 21.93% 20.71% $50,000-$74,999 14.49% 14.75% $75,000-$99,999 10.36% 10.58% $100,000-$124,999 7.24% 9.13% $125,000-$149,999 4.53% 4.20% $150,000-$174,999 2.62% 2.57% $175,000-$199,999 1.21% 1.60% $200,000+ 4.33% 5.69%