Age Groups and Buying Habits

[richardmac]

I've got a theory about age groups and buying/downloading habits. These are VERY GENERAL and based on all the people I know. There are tons of exceptions, but... check it out:

 

NON-MUSICIANS:

 

13 to 18 - Won’t pay for music. They can find it for free, OR they don’t need it. Buying music is very rare.

 

19 to 29 - Won’t pay for casual music, ie music that is NOT from their fave bands. Will pay for CD’s for their fave bands. Might be willing to buy a CD at a show of a non-fave band, if they really really dig it.

 

30 to 39 - The confused age group. Some download music for free. Some pay for CD’s. Some do both. More likely to buy a CD at a show, because disposable income is higher.

 

40 to 59 - Not a huge percentage of illegal downloaders. May buy CDs from time to time, but music is no longer as important in their lives as it once was, and therefore they’re only going to buy a CD at a show if they really dig the music.

 

 

Obviously, like I said, there are exceptions, and many people here are exceptions, but I'm talking about non-musicians.

 

IF the above theory is close to true, then the decision to host free downloads on your website might be different depending on what style of music you play, and who your target audience is? Does it make sense to try to sell downloads to the teen crowd? Does it make sense to offer free downloads to the 30+ crowd? Any opinions on this?

[hubberjub]

I feel that for unsigned bands it's far more important to get your music in the hands (or IPod) of the people. My band has two CD's out for sale and they sell alright. Last year we recorded a four song demo and handed out the CD's for free at shows. We distributed over 10,000 of them during the summer season. They only cost about 10 cents to make. As a result of this we can't take all of the shows we are being offered. We are mainly just doing festivals every weekend. You better believe we'll be taking along boxes of our new demo.

[PeterTuneCore]

I've been pleasantly surprised at how unintuitive the demographics have become. I think these might have been true in the past, or at least closer to reality, but things are changing in surprising ways, so much so that I don't feel confident this is the new shape of things. It'll change even more as data comes in!

 

--Peter

peter@tunecore.com

[richardmac]

I feel that for unsigned bands it's far more important to get your music in the hands (or IPod) of the people. My band has two CD's out for sale and they sell alright. Last year we recorded a four song demo and handed out the CD's for free at shows. We distributed over 10,000 of them during the summer season. They only cost about 10 cents to make. As a result of this we can't take all of the shows we are being offered. We are mainly just doing festivals every weekend. You better believe we'll be taking along boxes of our new demo.

 

Ah, but what STYLE of music does your band play? And perhaps more importantly, why don't you have a link to your band's page in your sig?

 

If you're playing modern rock/pop/alt, then giving out CD's to people who expect to download music for free makes sense. Would it make the same amount of sense if you played, say, slow jazz? Or blues? Or (fill in the blank with any style of music for older people)? That's what I'm getting at. I also wonder what happens when you try to sell full length CD's at shows. Do you then NOT give out the freebee four song demo CD's? Or do you do both? And how does that work out?

 

The rules seem like they've changed, but no one seems 100% solid on what they've changed to. But my take is that it's not the exact same rules for 13 through 60... that demographics will make a difference in what kind of approach might work best.

[hubberjub]

We're kind of a roots rock band. We don't fall into the modern rock/pop/alt scene. We still give out the freebee when we sell CD's at shows and it doesn't seem to hurt the sales. We're a band that is in it for the sake of promotion. We put all of the money we make back into the band. I feel that for the most part the standard CD as we know it is dying. It's being replaced by a downloadable version. We have friends that are selling their CD online for $3.99. Once the music has been recorded it costs nothing to the band. There's no overhead or worry about producing too many or too few CDs. I know it may not appeal to some of the "older" folks but we're all getting older. Technology is progressing. Sorry about the lack of a link to my band in my signature. If you would like to check it out it's www.myspace.com/thesecondclasscitizens. We do have a regular site as well but the Myspace site generates much more traffic.

[richardmac]

Hmm. Your music strikes me as being for the older crowd. Meaning guys like me - as opposed to 17 year old girls, for example. I would think that your target demographic would be more likely to listen to music on CD than to download it from the net. I would agree that the standard CD is dying, but it's not dying like the LP died, where it was totally replaced by something else... I see CD's as being viable for many more years, because you can hand them to someone and you can sell them at shows.

 

I think that you can still sell CD's at shows (as you guys are) because people like to have something they can take home, if they like the music. I also think that maybe bands ought to charge less money for CD's at shows than in the past.

 

It's interesting to hear what you're doing. I can't imagine giving away 4 song CD's at the same table as selling full CD's. It seems conflicting to me... I mean, I can see selling CD's (to make money) or giving away CD's (to gain fans,) but doing both? Then again, like I said, I have no clue what the new rules are. If it works for you, great. Maybe I'll try it at my next gig. I don't have a whole lot to lose.

 

What do you guys charge for your full CD at shows?

[hubberjub]

We charge ten dollars per CD. And those are professionally produced and packaged with color booklets etc. It could be a conflict of interest to have free CDs and CDs we charge for on the same table. Our theory is that we'd rather not have people leave empty handed. We don't make a ton of money off of the CDs, but we are to the point that we are making decent money off of the gig itself. Promotion is an endless experiment. What works for some people in some markets might not translate well to other locales. What really matters to us is reputation. We aren't the best band out there, but we show a lot of respect to both our fans and the people who are kind enough to let us play at their venues. We would rather have a fan come to our next show than buy a CD. It's short term versus long term.

[sabriel9v]

 

I've got a theory about age groups and buying/downloading habits. These are VERY GENERAL and based on all the people I know. There are tons of exceptions, but... check it out: NON-MUSICIANS: 13 to 18 - Won’t pay for music. They can find it for free, OR they don’t need it. Buying music is very rare. 19 to 29 - Won’t pay for casual music, ie music that is NOT from their fave bands. Will pay for CD’s for their fave bands. Might be willing to buy a CD at a show of a non-fave band, if they really really dig it. 30 to 39 - The confused age group. Some download music for free. Some pay for CD’s. Some do both. More likely to buy a CD at a show, because disposable income is higher. 40 to 59 - Not a huge percentage of illegal downloaders. May buy CDs from time to time, but music is no longer as important in their lives as it once was, and therefore they’re only going to buy a CD at a show if they really dig the music. Obviously, like I said, there are exceptions, and many people here are exceptions, but I'm talking about non-musicians. IF the above theory is close to true, then the decision to host free downloads on your website might be different depending on what style of music you play, and who your target audience is? Does it make sense to try to sell downloads to the teen crowd? Does it make sense to offer free downloads to the 30+ crowd? Any opinions on this?

 

 

I wouldn't say your theory is spot on, but it's very true to an extent. Does it make sense offering downloads to the teen crowd or the +30 crowd? I think it's smart to cater to the wants and needs of your fanbase. There are people between the ages of 35-50, who have plenty of disposable income, understand technology, and purchase digital downloads. On the other end, there are 13 year olds who come from lower income homes and might not have as much disposable income because their parents are working two jobs each. At the end of the day, as an artist, you have to formulate a strategy conducive to what your fans seek.