15 Months of Work: First Look

Above is one of the main screens for MusicVISTA.
MusicVISTA will be the new face of the leading edge for music research.

I'll be writing more about it soon, but for now I thought I would give you a little preview.

More MP3

I post some statistics about MP3 players, and what happens? Another MP3 survey.

This one is from Jacobs Media and is quoted in all of the trades this week.

Note that I’m basing my comments on what is being reported. I haven’t read the full study.

The survey found that MP3 player ownership is up from 21% to 35% among rock fans.

Well, how old are rock fans? What kind of fans? And does “rock fan” translate to “heavy consumers of music”? You and I need a reason to care about statistics applied to limited groups.

You can slice and dice this to fit your goal. In this case, it is apparently to show that MP3 is a big threat. But is it? Does owning an MP3 player make you a threat? Did radio stations consider 8 track players, cassettes and record players big threats?

My immediate reaction is: Young people will consume music any way and everywhere they can. Always have. Always will. I remember well that period, from age 16 to 22, when listening to commercial radio was frowned upon. And I worked in commercial radio!

No, I’ll be concerned when the post-rebellion age crowd starts substituting other things for radio listening. Let’s see those statistics.

The survey also showed that over half of alternative rock fans (an ever shrinking group by all reports) have MP3 players. And almost half of those who don’t own one are seriously thinking about getting one.

Here is a little research tip from the old pro: Don’t trust any survey question about intentions. Hey, I’m seriously thinking about moving to Maui. Really. But don’t hold your breath.

I’d rather ask them” Why haven’t you bought one yet, you slow, dim-witted, can’t keep up with the modern world slug?” Perhaps I’d phrase it differently.

My general suggestions for your own research are:

1. Define the edge of your survey. How old? How young? Gender differences?


2. Define your terms. For example, what exactly is a rock fan?


3. Use some common sense. Kids own devices that play recorded music. Duh.


4. Ask the smart question. Don’t ask people to answer things they can’t possibly know like what their purchase intentions are. Try to find out the factors that have guided their behavior to this point. Then think about what could change those factors.

Radio Listeners Chew Gum and Walk

We often talk about people listening to radio. But perhaps we should also consider what else they are doing.

57% of people surveyed said that while listening to radio, they also go online. (Guilty!)

47% of people surveyed said that while listening to radio, they also read the newspaper (If magazines count: Guilty).

That’s our reality. How can we deal with it?

Online:

It seems like we ought to be acknowledging this more on-air. But be careful, this is a cume phenomenon, not a quarter-hour one. That is, people use the Net while listening, but for many, it is only occasionally.  But even those people are probably using email.

Key question: How can you be more interactive?

Newspaper:

We have opportunities to point out how much more responsive we are. For almost any content, we are able to say things like “What you probably haven’t read…” or, for news: “Since the papers were printed…” Be creative.

MP3 Player Statistics

I ran across some interesting statistics on MP3 players.

From the hype, I would have guessed that the share for the iPod was about 95%. But actually, the most recent figure I can find is 29.4%. Sony was number 2 with 10.6%. ‘Other’ was really large, at 30.2%. That would include my “Napster”, manufactured by Samsung.

Beyond listening to music, these things are used to listen to podcasts. How is that going?

According to one survey I found, reported use of MP3 players to listen to podcasts is dropping. It was 36% 9 months ago, and down to 26% 3 months ago.

I’m not certain that tells the whole story. I frequently listen to podcasts. But I never bother to transfer them to an MP3 player. I download them to my “oversized” MP3 player – also known as my HP laptop – and listen to them directly from my computer. Since I take it everywhere, why bother with another device?

The MP3 player gets used when I’m on the tractor. I couple the Napster with a pair of Bose Quiet Comfort II headphones. I hardly notice the roar of the little Kubota that could.