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Facts & Figures

Soundata Consumer Panel

This month's column offers highlights from the December 1995-February 1996 reports. Findings are based on the responses of 1,500 male and female participants with a varied demographic profile. If you would like additional information, call Soundata at (914) 328-0204. As a Soundata subscriber, NARM is invited to submit questions to be directed to the consumer panel. Any NARM member wishing to submit a question(s) should send the information to Jim Donio at NARM.

'Twas The Season For Giving

  • One-half of music consumers report having bought prerecorded music to give as a gift this past holiday season. The number of CDs given or received by respondents rose 15% from 1994, while cassette transactions fell nearly 25%.
  • PCs were unwrapped by 5% of active music consuming households. The youngest and the oldest music consumers were most likely to have been in a house that received a PC as a gift, and virtually all were fully loaded with both a modem and a CD-ROM drive.
  • CD players were a more popular gift than PCs among music consumers. Fifteen percent live in a household where someone received one. Those under 18 (specifically those 12-15) were the most likely to have received a CD player as a gift.

The Kids Have It!

  • The younger the music consumer the greater the likelihood that they have made a visit to a record store in the past 30 days and they went back more often. Over 50% of consumers shop in a record store in a given month, but two-thirds of consumers under 21 can be found there. Those under 21 averaged four visits in the month, while those over 45 only visited an average of twice.

CD Pricing

  • The average price of a CD was estimated by the panel to be $13.64. The average price paid for a CD in December according to the diary section was $12.71. The estimated price decreased as age increased. Males averaged a price of $13.25 while the females estimated $14.03.

Boosting Those Sales

  • Over 25% of music consumers reported having received a free music sampler, up from 20% in December 1994. Among those who received a sampler, 25% made a purchase, especially those 16-17. Coupons increased purchasing further, with one-third of those receiving a sampler with a coupon buying the music.
  • Just over one-third of active music consumers notice newspaper ads for specific records in specific record stores. However, only 4% bought the last piece of prerecorded music they saw advertised. But among those who did buy, 84% said that the ad greatly or somewhat influenced the purchase.

In-Store Environment Affects Bottom Line

  • One-third of music consumers bought more albums than they had originally intended the last time they went into a store to buy music. The average number of additional purchases was two. The number one stimulus? Simply browsing. Sale prices, listening stations, and in-store displays also prompt sales.
  • Where in the store was the last piece of prerecorded music you purchased located? From a closed-ended list, 58% said most of the purchases were "under the artist's name in the artist section." Coming in a distant second (8%) was "on a best sellers wall/display." Other locations included: "end of aisle displays," "bargain bins," and "stand alone displays."

Can I Get You Anything Else?

  • Seven out of ten active music consumers shop most often for music in a store that also sells non-music related products. Items include video game software, T-shirts, books, video game and stereo systems, computers and computer software. A substantial 22% said that the last time they bought music in that store, they also made a non-music related purchase.

Sing...Sing A Song

  • Seventy-five percent of music consumers considered including the lyrics within the packaging of prerecorded music somewhat or very important when making a purchase. Not only that, over 50% feel they are getting less value with their purchase if the lyrics aren't included.

CD Player And CD-ROM Ownership

  • CD player ownership among active music consumers continues to hold at just about 90%. Those under 35 are more likely to own a CD player, whereas only 75% of older consumers claim ownership. Males are still more likely than females to have use of a CD player. The ownership gap has closed between White consumers and African American consumers.
  • Thirteen percent of respondents currently have a CD player built into the dashboard of their car, with those 25-34 the most likely owners. Satisfaction with their cassette players and the expense are the two main reasons some consumers don't have a CD player in their dashboard.
  • One-third of music consumers own or have access to a computer with a CD-ROM drive in their home or apartment. Ownership is up from 20% in February 1995 and 11% in February 1994! Nearly three-quarters of CD-ROM owners use their drive to play computer games. Almost that many (72%) use CD-ROMs as reference tools, i.e. encyclopedia or dictionary discs. A strong 68% of music consumers are interested in buying a CD with multimedia, and interest is even higher among CD-ROM owners (82%).

Greatest Hits Albums

  • A surprising one-third of music consumers say that they have bought a Greatest Hits album during the past 90 days, with nearly 40% of those 21-34 purchasing these compilations. Most of these buyers (67%) own at least one other album by the artist.

Music Club Membership

  • Forty-four percent of music consumers currently "belong to a music club such as Columbia House or BMG." The BMG music club is a bit more popular, with 18% of music consumers currently belonging, 13% to Columbia House, and 12% claiming membership in both clubs.
  • Two-thirds of members have made a purchase through the club in the past 90 days. Among these, the average number of purchases was six. Club members 18-24 and African American members averaged nine purchases in the past 90 days. Only 48% of club members have shopped in a record store in the past 90 days, and those who did averaged four purchases. Why did they buy through the club? The top reason was "good price/special offers/sales." Convenience was also mentioned as a selling point. "Good price/special offers/sales" were also listed as the number one reason club members chose to purchase in a retail outlet, though "not available though club" was a very close second.

Dialing For Music

  • Only 7% of respondents indicated that they have used an "800" number to make a purchase of prerecorded music. Why did they call? Seeing an advertisement was the main reason. Product availability only through the toll-free number and good price were also cited. And a strong two-thirds of non-users would be very or somewhat interested in using an "800" number to sample songs and order music.
  • Just about half of the panel members have heard of or seen advertisements for 1-800-Music-Now. Seventy percent of those called but did not sign up for an account to use the service. Why not? Not having a credit card was cited by 43%. Another 20% noted that the shipping fees were too much or the sign-up process was too long. A mere 2% actually purchased music after joining the service.
  • Younger consumers and African American consumers have the most experience with using the telephone to preview music. Users seem pleased with the service, since 79% would call again. Only 14% of users bought something that they heard on the line, down from 33% last year.

Live Club Performances

  • Music consumers 18-20 are far and away the most likely group to attend music performances at a club, with 35% having attended at least one live club performance in the past six months. Compare this with only 21% of total respondents, and 22% of those 21-34.
  • Two-thirds of those who attended a club show saw the artist's album on sale at the concert, and about one out of every 10 actually bought it there. Another 10% of club goers said that they would have bought the album if it had been available.

Classical Music Fans

  • Older consumers and White consumers are the most likely to enjoy and purchase Classical music. Just over one-half like or strongly like Classical music, with the average collection containing 15 selections. Only 28% of Classical music owners have any complete operatic recordings in their personal collections. And 15% of music consumers (28% of Classical owners) have bought one of the specialty, themed Classical offerings such as Sensual Classics or Dinner Classics aimed at the novice Classical fan.

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