Focus+group+assignment

Wilson Focus Group Assignment To: Proximity Music team FROM: Matthew Wilson DATE: March 20, 2010 SUBJECT: Music Focus Group Report

Here are my findings on a focus group I ran concerning Gen-Y’s concerns on the current ways that music is being downloaded online. Some of the participants voiced that they wanted a safer alternative to downloading underground music on illegal file sharing sites.

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 have become 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.
 * Focus Group Rationale**

The 45 minute session took place in Camp Lejeune, NC on March 15, 2009. All male participants are United States Marines - Mac- 23 years old - Charlie- 25 years old - Frank- 21 years old - Dennis- 21 years old - Rob- 23 years old Session Topics **
 * Setting and Participants**

__ Music Purchasing and Sharing __ All the participants stated that they use either Itunes or some other legal pay per song site. Only Charlie stated that he solely used these sites due to his experience of downloading viruses from illegal file sharing sites. The other participants made use of the file sharing sites due to the wider range of music that can be found. Underground music is a favorite amongst the participants and they say Itunes does not carry the wide range of music they are looking for. This group supports the same hardcore niche of the music and they share their music with close friends. None of them use the file sharing websites as a way to save money which was put best by Mac, “…if u can't (pay for music downloads) then u really need to think about your life.” __Underground Music__ The support of underground music split the participants into two sides; those for, and those against. Mac, Frank, and Charlie were firm in their belief that if Itunes had some sort of underground section, that those types of bands would turn mainstream. As Frank stated, “…some bands as they gain fame, begin to suck more and more.” Rob and Dennis looked at it a different way while still having a lot of love for the underground scene. They felt that if Itunes embraced the less known bands, that it would give the smaller bands a wider audience and more opportunity to grow as artists. Mac and Frank came back and said that the underground scene would turn into something that it is not; Mac said “ we don’t want to change it to "above ground" music do we?” Dennis made a good point when he mentioned that if the underground scene was prevalent on Itunes, that it would be possible to find artists that would otherwise be difficult to discover. He felt that the music from these small bands could only be known through the places they play locally unless they were mainstreamed on Itunes. __Role of Concerts in Music Purchases__ Over the years that I have spent with these guys, it seems that we have seen an infinite number of bands at the local venues. Frank and Charlie were constantly buying the CD’s that the bands sold after their shows. They reminded me of this and Charlie said “it takes people like me to support these guys, not large corporations like Apple.” The rest of the group agreed that it is good for the fans when they get to actually meet the bands they are buying the music from. Mac and Rob fired back by saying that a fan could just as easily support a band if the music was available on a site like Itunes. Although differing on some of the topics the participants agreed on a few key points. - Illegal file sharing sites are important for discovering new music - Legal music sites could greatly expand their customer base if they sold lesser known artists work. These results need to be examined along with the other focus groups that were run. Even though this group was not diverse, it has given us a look at how a specific sub culture obtains music. This knowledge will allow our clients to decide how to approach the sale and distribution of underground music as well as who advertisers should target on underground music websites.
 * Findings **