Global management consulting firm Bain & Company has released a new piece of research: Music Discovery: More Channels, More Problems. The concluding thesis of this work:
“Consumers find new music via more sources than ever, requiring artists and their record labels to meet them where they are with targeted messages.”
Bain has discovered that most listeners find new songs through playlists on streaming services, licensed plays in movies, TV shows, and videogames. Additionally — and this is crucial to Bain’s point — consumers lean hard on recommendations from friends, family, and trusted online communities. Older recommendation methods like radio, MTV, and big-box record stores (characterized as “one-to-many”) are giving way.
The model has shifted from “one-to-many” to “many-to-many,” Bain emphasizes. A few other findings include:
Younger fans rely even more heavily on social media. The 18-24 cohort is even more predisposed to this behavior than the under-18 group.
Given these consumer findings, how do music marketers adapt? “Industry leaders will have to invest in new capabilities and tools,” is the short answer. Four key strategies are itemized — they include data analytics, ancillary content, monitoring tools, use test-and-learn tools, and remember that established artists need the same strategies as newcomers.
The key findings, in more detail, are HERE.