10/17/14

All right — let’s see, I want to find some statistics on US computer users that may help me better understand my audience.

According to the US Census Bureau, 74.8% of all households in America had access to the internet at home in 2012 — that means my total audience potential is 74.8% of all US households — not bad! 78.9% of all households had a computer at home in 2012, and 94.8% of households with a computer used it to connect to the internet in 2012, whether gaming consoles, smartphones, laptops, touchscreen tablets or desktops.

The breakdown by age and ethnic origins is as follows:

I think the age chart explains why I don’t have the oldest age groups listening, even though typically you would think they would want to listen to straight ahead jazz — their internet usage is significantly less than younger ages. While a prime target market for my jazz is not being reached because they do not use the internet as much, the benefits for positioning my music on the internet outweigh that loss. I can only hope that internet use by those over 55 will continue to increase to capture that segment as well.

Ethnic origin is informative, but not as valuable since I don’t have that breakdown for my US audience. I could look at ethnic origin breakdowns by state — but it is still a stretch, and sponsors need more specific, verifiable information than that.

45.3% of individuals 25 and older were using Smartphones in 2012. The different smartphone uses is showing that 25.1% of those individuals are using their smartphone to listen to music. I believe this will continue to increase.

Source: http://www.census.gov/hhes/computer/files/2012/Computer_Use_Infographic_FINAL.pdf

The US Census Bureau also compiles very detailed statistics for the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Consumer Expenditures, Incomes and Characteristics in order to build the Consumer Price Index. By matching the age information I know about my audience, I can make some informed assumptions.

While 27% of my audience is made up of 18-24 year-olds, I believe this age group most likely found me because they are looking to discover new music and they have the highest internet usage. They may have listened, and hopefully enjoyed my music — but I believe they then moved on because I’m betting I don’t meet the “cool factor” they seek, nor do I try to. In general, while this age group could very well contain some jazz aficionados, I would consider them a secondary target market. From a sponsors’ point of view, they also have a lower income, with a mean income before taxes of $27,914 in 2013. The majority of this age group are likely still in college, and while college markets may be viewed as having a larger portion of their available funds as discretionary, and make a lot of sense for a certain segment of sponsor products and services, I believe the audience that I can retain is higher up the age scale.

Age group 25-34 is my largest target market at 33%. So let’s try to get a clearer picture of who they are. Their average income was $59,002 in 2013, they have 2.8 people in their household with 1.1 under 18, and 1.6 vehicles. Just 40% are homeowners — 60% are renters. Over 80% are white (non-hispanic), and 70% have attended college. Average annual expenditures were $48,087 in 2013. They are spending an average of $2,214 on entertainment, and $113 on entertainment gifts per year — more than they are spending on healthcare. While my audience gets to enjoy listening to my music free, these expenditures show their interest in entertainment, and their willingness to pay for it. This group also gained in net assets by $6,354 in 2013 over 2012. The following chart is helpful in providing sponsors with an overview of this group’s spending in 2013:

As you can see, Entertainment comes in as high as 6th in this group’s spending priorities, which was a pleasant surprise to me.  Even though they can access my entertainment free, related entertainment product & service brands may be a good fit as potential sponsors.

It is amazing how much detail is provided in these statistics on each product/service category for each age group, so I’ll be able to use this data when it comes to customizing for each particular potential brand sponsor.

I still have this lingering doubt as to whether this 25-34 age group will stick around for my jazz over the long-term and become my core audience. Age groups 35-44 and 45-54 both have higher incomes at an average of over $78,000, and they are just 15% and 13% of my audience respectively. How much is due to a lower internet use?  My audience curve reflects the internet usage curve, so I suspect this is a significant factor.  Again, hopefully the 35+ folks will continually increase their internet usage, because I suspect it is the 35+ audience that is more likely to latch on to my jazz and become my core audience. They spent even more on entertainment in 2013:

Source: http://www.bls.gov/cex/2013/combined/age.pdf

But I need proof, so I’m going to see if I can find jazz audience statistics. The longest running, and one of the most well-known jazz websites, AllAboutJazz.com, publishes their demographics for advertisers’ consideration, with some interesting comparisons & contrasts to my audience information. I was surprised to see that their audience breaks down by gender 80% male to 20% female, while my audience is nearly even with males just a bit more than females 54% to 46%, which I’m very happy about — my base is broader. But I suspect this is because the majority of their jazz is instrumental while mine is vocal. Their age curve confirms my suspicions that the 35+ is the bigger jazz market — but by such a small margin that it may not be significant and may just be emphasizing that I need to make efforts to attract more 35+ audience members online:

Source: http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/demographic_counts.php

This breakdown does seem to confirm my suspicion, though, that while 27% of my audience is 18-24, only 12% of their audience is, likely because this age group is not drawn to “jazz” but to “new.” I have to consider the possibility that the 18-24 age group will listen to my music, though, if I stay on cutting edge vehicles online and they can continue to listen free. Only time will tell. I’d love to retain this age group if possible, and build my 35+ audience.

It makes sense that once I am marketing “jazz” the 35+ market will be attracted. Right now, with no marketing, it is chance and it appears the younger audience that is more willing to explore new music is finding me.

I’ve gathered demographics and cursory psychographics so far, which are secondary. Until I’m able to directly survey my audience, I’m unable to gather primary statistics. Again, “Start where you are, use what you have, do what you can.” (Arthur Ashe). I need to become more acquainted with my audience then I currently am in order to achieve that. I’m not a big believer in bribing my audience to fill out surveys because I feel it skews the results. It also misses a wide swath of people who don’t like participating to get something. But I feel I have a solid overview until the time I’m in conversations with a particular potential brand sponsor. At that point, I will be zeroing in on secondary, and hopefully primary audience information related to the brand’s specific product or service.

Once I am implementing my full marketing and sponsorship plans, I will need to revisit my audience demographics and psychographics — they should change based on succeeding with my strategies, and will need to be updated regularly. The picture of who my audience is will become clearer and clearer. I will find who will always attend and listen, whom I can convince to attend and listen through my marketing efforts, with primary, secondary, and tertiary target markets, and who will never attend or listen. The better my audience details, the more valuable my sponsorship packages become.

That’s it for now! Until next time!

DIY Music Sponsorship Journal – 10-17-14.  Eliyora Entertainment LLC.  Ever Entertainment®  © Paradunai LLC.  All international rights reserved.  All trademarks property of Paradunai LLC.  All personas, concepts and original songs created and performed by Sherese Chrétien.