Herman+A+Focus+Group+Report

Herman A

TO: Proximity Music Team FROM: Andrea Herman SUBJECT: Music Focus Group Report DATE: March 29, 2010

Here is my report on the findings of the focus group sessions I ran with five college-age friends. I had to run two separate sessions rather than one because of scheduling issues. However, the groups of three and two participants gave informative results. I was able to cover all five questions developed by our team during the sessions. Three out of the five participants admitted to regularly downloading music illegally, but also shared common views such as purchasing CD’s from their favorite artist.


 * Focus Group Rationale**

The internet has completely changed the music industry. Because music can no longer be protected with copyrights and more people than ever are downloading music for free, the old business models are becoming ineffective. Our focus group sessions were designed to determine exactly how Gen-Y consumers are getting their music. 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**

The first 45 minute session took place on March 19, 2010 at The Lodge in Hickory, MD with the following participants:

· Sean, 22, a Towson University senior Computer Information Systems major; · Sarah, 21, an Essex Community College student in the Veterinary Technician program; · Ashley, 21, a Towson University senior Computer Information Systems major;

The second 45 minute session was held at my home in Bel Air, MD with two participants:

· Chris, 19, a Harford Community College sophomore Business Administration major; · Austin, 18, a student of an EMT technician training program


 * Session Topics**

We covered the following five topics during the sessions:

__What ways music is bought__ When asked, “What is the most common way you buy new music?” most of the participants of the focus group sessions (do you really need this?) didn’t have an answer for me. Because three out of five of them do not pay for the music they listen to. Ashley, however, is in love with her satellite radio service and doesn’t feel the need to get music any other way because she is very satisfied by the variety of music available from her paid subscription. The other person who acquires most of her music legally was Sarah, who purchase individual tracks via iTunes or buys CD’s.

__Illegally downloaded music and sharing files__ So, obviously based on the answers to the first question, the other three participants revealed that they do indeed download their music illegally. Sean replied, “I do a lot of illegal downloading, but not too much sharing.” Then seconds later added, “Is my name going to be used in this?” Sean, Chris, and Austin all use the pee-to-peer file sharing network LimeWire to obtain both individual tracks and whole albums.

__Music industries actions and lawsuits toward illegal downloading__ Surprisingly, the group does not let the threat of action taken against illegal downloaders affect how they obtain their music. Ashley, a fellow Computer Information Systems major stated, “The Internet was created for file sharing, so that’s what people are going to do…share files.” So, not sharing music files herself, she’s not against it.

__Should the music industry embrace free music downloads as a means for promoting smaller, unknown bands and musicians?__ Everyone agreed that this would probably be an intelligent move for the music industry not to completely fight against free music, but to try to use it to their advantage. Sean suggested, “Maybe give away the most popular song of the artist to get interest in the album. It would be a good way to check out bands I don’t know without stealing their songs on LimeWire.” Ashley replied, “It’s no different than using MySpace to upload tracks to spread your band’s name around.”

__Supporting artists through concerts and purchasing merchandise and CD’s__ Sean responded to this topic by saying, “I’ve only been to three concerts and for my favorite bands I have bought a few of their CD’s. Like I’ve stolen music off the Internet but then gone out and bought the CD because I feel like I have to support them.” Ashley, Chris, and Austin who also don’t normally buy CD’s like Sarah say that for their favorite bands do purchase them. Austin has never been to a concert and wants to go to one in the future, but notes that he has a tattoo of Breaking Benjamin’s logo, who are his favorite band so that “must count for something.” So, according to the session participants if they really like the band they will buy their CD but they won’t take a chance of buying a CD if they are not familiar enough with them because they might not like it.


 * Findings**

The sessions revealed that the college age participants:

· acquire most of their music through illegal downloads; · peer-to-peer file sharing network LimeWire is the tool of choice; · are fairly unconcerned about legal action taken against those who download music illegally · feel obligated to support their favorite bands

Was it a coincidence that the males of the group were the ones illegally downloaded music? The sample of participants is too small to pass judgment but it would be interesting to compare with other results of music focus group sessions.

There was a variety of ways the focus group session attendees obtain music including iTunes, satellite radio, CD’s and peer to peer file sharing networks namely LimeWire. It was also interesting and maybe slightly disturbing that no one mentioned that the crack down on illegal downloading affected them. Hopefully none of my friends will get tracked down by their IP addresses in the future.

Lastly, all five of the participants agree that they have and would purchase CD’s from their favorite bands. It sounded like a couple of them even felt obligated to support them in this way, for liking a band’s music they feel like they should give them something in return.

Sorry this is so late, my internet decided not to work... Jed