focus+group+analysis

Lowman J

TO: Music Team FROM: Jed Lowman SUBJECT: Music Focus Group Report DATE: March 21, 2010

Here is my report I ran with three college age males and two college age females regarding their music listening habits. We covered all five questions developed by our team, some more in depth that others. Surprisingly, most participants reported that they rarely download music illegally, but even when they do they are often likely to purchase the album of a favorite band or artist.


 * Focus Group Rationale **

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 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 45 minute session was held at Sensations Bar and Grill on Saturday, March 20, 2010. The participants were:  · Troy, 25, a chef; · Tristen, 22, a McDaniel College senior political science major; · Jun, 27, a professional poker player; · Kayla, 22, a dancer and Carroll Community College student; · Crystal, 24, a dancer.

We discussed the following topics during the session:
 * Session Topics **

__What is the most common way you buy new music - CDs, purchase individual tracks online, subscribe to an online music service?__ Only one of our participants, Troy, discussed purchasing actual CDs anymore. He indicated that he liked to buy them so that he could listen to them in his car. The other respondents gave mixed reactions in terms of buying individual tracks vs. whole albums online. One participant, Kayla, said that she also subscribed to Pandora and normally used the app on her iPhone.

__Do you regularly illegally download music or share files you have bought with friends?__  All of the participants admitted to downloading illegally at some point. However, none of the respondents admitted to currently downloading illegally. It should be noted that Tristan admitted to sharing physical CDs with his friends and allowing them to rip the music on to their own computers. I also wonder whether or not all of the participants were being completely honest, I think that illegal downloading has become a Gen Y faux pas and few are willing to openly admit their transgressions.

__Has the music industries actions (lawsuits) toward illegal downloading affected how you obtain your music?__ This question provided some of the most interesting material from the focus group. None of the participants had ever been contacted by any authority regarding illegal downloads and none of the participants personally knew of any person contacted by an authority. The participants seemed more worried about the quality of their digital files than possible legal action. Tristan said, “Dude, sometimes you get a song off Limewire and there is some crappy DJ in the background or the song just cuts off mid way.” According to Crystal, “The stuff you download illegally is of questionable quality … I would rather just download it from iTunes cause I know that it is a quality download.”


 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Findings **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">

The session revealed that the participants · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Are much more likely to download digital music files instead of purchasing CDs; · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Prefer to listen to their downloaded files on smart phones or similar products; · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">In many instances place quality over cost, choosing to download from reputable sites instead of downloading illegally; · <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">Have little to no fear of prosecution from illegally downloading but choose not to illegally download based on other considerations. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> These findings should be compared with the results from other sessions with college age participants. Although this group showed hesitation towards illegally downloading copyrighted material, I wonder if a larger sample size would confirm my suspicions that the activity of illegally downloading material is still quite prolific. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;">In addition, I believe that further investigation is necessary to determine the honesty of individual participants. Illegally downloading copyrighted material is a sort of faux pas in Generation Y, and I think that participants would be reluctant to admit to illegally downloading in a group of their peers.