The monochromatic music shopper is going the way of the mono LP.
Multicultural consumers — blacks, Hispanics and Asian-Americans — make up the new mainstream determining music’s trends, impact and earnings, according to a Nielsen report out Tuesday.
“Listen Up: Music and the Multicultural Consumer” analyzes spending habits, preferences and means of access in that rapidly growing U.S. demographic.
Since 1990, the slice of the U.S. population that identifies itself as black, Asian-American or Hispanic has jumped to 37% from 24%. Among millennials (18-34), 40% are multicultural. By 2043, the poly-ethnic segment is expected to be the majority. For those under 18, the shift will take place in four years.
“Modern music is being shaped by confident multicultural consumers,” says Mónica Gil, Nielsen’s senior vice president/multicultural growth and strategy. “These are trailblazers and they know it. As the country faces a demographic shift, this population is poised to influence the growth of music companies.”
Multiculturals have given rise to greater diversity and cross-pollination, resulting in such unexpected collaborations as Psy, Pitbull and Jay Z, she says.
The digital age has been crucial in music’s melting pot, says David Bakula, Nielsen Entertainment senior vice president. “Technology has taken down all the boundaries and given a voice and power to the multicultural consumer,” he says.
Compared with the total market, multiculturals consume more R&B and hip-hop, less country and about the same amounts of pop and rock. They spend equally on CDs but multiculturals shell out slightly more on live entertainment and digital music and less on satellite radio.
In a typical week, multiculturals are heavier users of Internet radio, on-demand video and audio streaming than the general population. They more frequently tune into TV music channels and Facebook musician pages. They also are more likely to share music and playlists, comment on artist Facebook posts and retweet artists they follow on Twitter.
The general population outscores multiculturals on terrestrial radio and CDs, older forms of discovery and use.
Defying a longstanding misperception, multiculturals “are more likely to pay for services,” Gil says. “And they’re doing everything on smartphones: downloading, streaming, sharing.”
They expect portable 24/7 access on all platforms, indicative of a deep passion for music, Bakula says.
“It’s the soundtrack for everything they do,” he says.
How consumers discover, consume and share music has been under-researched by content owners and marketers, Bakula says.
“We need to know this stuff now,” he says, citing galloping technology and a youth culture of early adopters. “If you’re a tech company providing an ad-supported streaming service, you have to know who your consumer is. You can’t go in blind.”
Still, the music business has made huge strides to feed demand.
“When you see the technological advances and numbers of apps and services, the industry is doing a great job,” Bakula says. “A particular movie may not be available on Netflix, but you have easy access to 10-million-plus songs now.”
For full details on the Nielsen research, go here.
