Heer+A.+Focus+Group

Heer A.

TO: Proximity Music Team FROM: Andrew Heer SUBJECT: Focus Group Report DATE: March 29, 2010 The following are the results of my focus group on the music industry. The focus group was conducted with five (6) Generation-Y age college students from Baltimore County. The whole group had similar feelings about the music industry’s response of prosecuting illegal downloader’s which almost all of them participated in either directly or indirectly. The group also showed a serious interest in supporting the artist who created the music. ** Focus Group Rational ** The Internet has completely changed the music industry. Because music can no longer be protected with copyright and more people than ever are downloading music for free, the old business models are becoming less and less effective. Our focus group sessions were designed to determine exactly how Gen-Y consumers are getting their music and what they are willing to pay for. Information from these sessions will allow us to advise Proximity clients on how to best use music sites to connect with Gen-Y. Setting and Participants ** Session Topics ** Findings **
 * The setting of the focus group was my apartment on March 26, 2010. It was composed of three (3) females and two (3) males. **
 * AG= 24 year old, female, Nursing **
 * MC= 23 year old, female, Mass Comm/Graphic Design **
 * MK= 21 year old, female, Dance Major **
 * TH= 23 year old, male, English Major **
 * AF= 21 year old, male, Acting Major **
 * CT= 24 year old, male EMF **
 * During the focus group I conducted I began with the question “How do you get your music?” All but AG engaged in illegal downloading of their music. AG is the one non-downloader and is what I would call a collector buys vinyl albums and shops at second hand music shops and the internet. **
 * MC used “limewire” while the others MK, TH, AF, and CT all used the safer torrenting method, although MK, TC and CT all used i-Tunes to legally buy music sometimes too. **
 * Next we discussed how they heard and learned about new bands. Everyone agreed that friends were very important. The internet was also influential with, Pandora Radio, LastFM and LALA mentioned. **
 * The artist quickly came up in conversation. Everyone agreed it was important to support them. Everyone agreed that going to concerts was worth the money because it so directly supported the artist and is a fun and enjoyable experience. **
 * Finally I asked if they would prefer to buy full albums, single songs or pay for a subscription service. MC said “I would prefer to buy songs because song times you don’t like the whole album which is why I like to download music to find that artist it is worth supporting and seeing live or buying their music.” TH and CT both agreed that services like Pandora could be worth the fees but “don’t have the money right now.” **
 * ∙ **** All but one download some or all their music illegally. **
 * ∙ **** The legal ramifications of illegal downloading of music do not deter people from downloading music. **
 * ∙ **** Gen-Y is broke. “If I had the money I would….” was common among my focus group members. **
 * ∙ **** Gen-Y wished to provide for the artist creating the music but had little care for the companies that provide the music. **
 * ∙ **** Gen-Y prefers to pay for concerts especially for “intelligent” and “good” musicians. **
 * ∙ **** Selling songs individually and subscriptions seem like good ways to target this market. **
 * In this session I found that Gen-Y will decide when and where and what they are going to spend their money on and music is so easily pirated that most of Gen-Y chooses to do it. Everyone wants to support the artist and live shows are agreed to be “worth the money.” **