Survey on music audiences

By creating a questionnaire i can find out what other people think of the music industry and how the audience affects the artists. In total i asked 15 people as i think it would be a good amount to get a variety of answers. They were of all different ages, ranging from 12 to 50 years of age, and different genders. I also made sure the people i asked had different musical interests and experience with music as i thought this would give me a more accurate result if i was looking at this being the majority of musical consumers.
Here are the questions i asked, the answers are in red.

1.) Where do you listen to most of your music?
Itunes 5
Ipod 4
Myspace 0
Youtube 2
Radio 1
TV 0
CD's 0
Streaming websites such as Spotify 3
Other (if so, specify) 0
By each option is the amount of people that ticked that box.

Looking at the results from this question, most people get their music from Itunes, an Internet programme that allows people to buy and download music for a relatively cheap sum of money. Streaming websites came in second. This is also similar to Itunes, although you are not downloading the music, you are streaming it so you don't own a copy of it permanently, having said this it is most probably still popular because you usually do not pay to use the service.

2.)Do you listen to certain artists because they are from a particular label?
-if so, which one(s)
All 15 answered No

This was really interesting because it shows the audience aren't interested in the actual label the artist is signed to. They most probably believe its more about the music than the business behind it. One person who did the survey said "Even know some labels may be more experienced than others and have a reputation to uphold, you wouldn't search music based on their label. In fact i think the majority of consumers wouldn't even know the labels of their favourite artists."

3.)Do you prefer music from mainstream or niche appeal?
11 answered mainstream
4 answered niche

Universal Music Group is an example of a conglomerate that owns subsidiaries such as Polydor records and Mercury music group. By having different subsidiaries, UMG can still attract audiences with different taste and appeal in music. For example, Island records have a niche appeal so that people who are interested in that genre can still be connected to UMG.

4.)Have you ever downloaded music illegally?
13 answered Yes
2 answered No

Illegal downloading is still a large issue that occurs when thinking about media ownership. Maybe institutions such as UMG should think about maybe lowering the price of music. That way people would be more interested in actually buying the music rather than "stealing" from the industry.

5.)What institutions or labels have you heard of?
5 people said Universal Music group
4 said EMI
1 said Chrysalis
2 said Epic
1 said Aftermath
2 didn't know any

This is similar to question 2, you could argue that audiences are more interested in the music than the business behind it. However being known widely, such as EMI and UMG which are part of 'the big four', would be an advantage as it would gain you a wider audience. People would recognise the name and relate it to other artists they like, and resulting in a wider audience.

6.)Do you mind paying for your music? Why?
10 answered Yes:
"I think artists and labels earn too much money anyway, they get profit from just turning up at events or doing gigs. To expect people to pay to just listen to their music is asking too much, if we want to hear more of it, we would go to the concerts, and THEN i wouldn't mind paying"
"Its too much money, music should be free to listen to, share, and enjoy"


5 answered No:
"i don't mind paying for it, i mind paying too much for it."
"it's their career, if i like it they've earned it"

These were some common thoughts amongst those that took the survey.