Jones+T+Focus+Group+Report

Jones T

TO: Music Team FROM: Travis Jones SUBJECT: Music Focus Group Session DATE: April 2, 2010

Here are the results from the focus group session I held Friday, April 2, 2010 with three college age males and two college age females. The discussion was based around illegal downloading and feelings towards the music industry. Most of the participants obtained their music illegally while one purchased their music off iTunes.


 * Focus Group Rationale**

The Internet has completely changed how music is delivered and the appeal of broadcast radio as the primary medium for targeting music audiences. The rationale for our focus group sessions to determine what kinds of music Gen-Y listens to, where they learn about it, and how they prefer to get it. This information will allows us to advise Proximity clients on how they can use music to target Gen-Y consumers.


 * Setting and Participants**

The focus group session was held in my apartment on Friday, April 2, 2010 and lasted roughly a half hour.

The male participants were:

John, 20, a Towson University Economics Major Mark, 20, a Towson University Business Major Eric, 23, a Towson University Political Science Major

The female participants were:

Amanda, 19, a University of Maryland Hearing and Speech Pathology Major Megan, 20, a Towson University Mass Communications Major


 * Session Topics**

The following three topics were discussed during the session:

__Discovering Music__ Most of the participants said that they discovered new music through word of mouth. Mark said that he went to websites to discover new music such as www.daytrotter.com and www.absolutepunk.net. All five participants said that they do not listen to the radio to find new music.

__Obtaining Music__ The most common way the participants obtained new music was through illegal downloading. Eric was the only one who purchased songs off iTunes. John, Mark and Amanda all use torrents to download their music now rather than peer-to-peer programs such as Limewire. Megan was the only participant who used peer-to-peer networks saying during the discussion, "what is a torrent." Four out of the five participants said that they regularly download music illegal, the only exception being Eric.

__Feelings on the Music Industry__ All five participants said that the actions of the music industry did not affect the way they downloaded music. Eric, the only one who purchases music said that he does so not because of the music industries actions and lawsuits but because he feels like its a safer way to avoid viruses and other computer problems. Three of the five participants said the music industry should embrace illegal downloading to promote smaller or local bands because these musicians make most their money from touring anyway. The two who did not agree with this said that they do not listen to "underground" music and therefore they do not care what the music industry does about it.


 * Findings**

The session revealed:
 * Illegal downloading is here to stay
 * Word of mouth is the most popular way Gen-Y discovers new music
 * Gen-Y does not care about potential lawsuits or the music industries actions toward illegal downloading