How Millennials See Music

We have talked at length about how the Internet and digital media have transformed the music industry. The music industry always seems to be in some state of flux. Maybe a good question to ask is how does an artist connect with their fans in the digital age? A recent study conducted by MTV Research attempts to understand this question with regards to younger fans, or so called Millennials.

The study revealed a number of findings that should yield some understanding of  what younger audiences demand from artists in 2013. The first finding is “zero-distancing.” The idea here is that fans need artists to be highly accessible. This is likely due to the fact that younger fans are persistently online and digitally connected on various social media platforms. Even the mundane is somewhat noteworthy to this group of consumers. Millennials want to share in the artist’s lives.

 

The next finding is “music is on shuffle,” meaning that Millennials are more likely today to have varied taste in music. The study offers that this is, again, due the highly connected digital world that we live in today. In fact, the report states, “a Millennial list of “fave artists” might be as diverse as One Direction, Etta James, Lil Wayne and The Supremes.” Prior to Internet, music fans would typically listen to a specific radio station, which would push various artists. The following is a  look at the Billboard's top artists of 1988:

·      George Michael

·      INXS

·      George Harrison

·      Rick Astley

·      Guns N' Roses

·      Whitney Houston

·      Belinda Carlisle

·      Tiffany

·      Breathe

·      Steve Winwood

There is a notably diverse set of artists in this list that was being aired on a “top 40 station.” However, these artists are contemporaries. That is a far cry from the results of this study, where “One Direction and Etta James” may end up on the same playlist. A Key statistic in this research is that 85% agree, “among people my [their] age, it’s cooler to listen to a diverse range of music versus one genre.””

Next on the list of findings is “there’s no such thing as selling out.” The report suggests that Millennials do not discriminate against artists who take endorsement deals.  Digital media now represents more than 50% of music sold. As the graph demonstrates, the decline in physical revenues has a significant impact on industry revenue. Millennials are comfortable with bands needing to get money from various sources since little revenue is actually from selling their music to fans. This is very different from acts like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin who would have seen selling out as a very bad thing for their artistic integrity.

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The study also finds that “buying music is symbolic patronage for Millennials.” The frequency of younger people purchasing music is down greatly due to the peer-to-peer network sharing sites of the early 2000s. Nearly 70% of Millennials will purchase an artist’s music, only out of respect for that artist. That same group also believes that music should be free.

This study offers insight into an important market share of the music industry, without judging the Millennials’ thought process.