Understanding music consumption through a tribal lens

This paper challenges the traditional view taken by the recorded music industry of their key target market for popular music, the young music consumer. With music ever more accessible and ubiquitous and the research into music consumption revealing an increasingly eclectic and complex market, the traditional marketing model and the bases used to segment the young consumer market for music appear less relevant and effective as a means of marketing and distributing music products. Applying a qualitative methodology this study examines the music consumption amongst young people and questions the existence and relevance of` tribes', evaluating their relevance to marketing practice. The paper proposes six consumer tribes. These are consumer centric profiles and based on the way in which music is consumed, market awareness, technological knowledge and the use of music in the construction and maintenance of identity. Strategic issues for the record industry and marketing as well as distribution implications for record companies are presented. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.