Illustrative engagement. A representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work in music. It does not describe a specific client; outcomes are described qualitatively.
Industry overview
What is shaping music
Labels, streaming services and live music businesses need to know how people listen, discover artists and choose concerts, and to pay artists accurately.
- Streaming dominates listening
- Live music is a growing revenue source
- Royalty accuracy builds artist trust
Client background
A music streaming service, working in India. This is an illustrative engagement: a representative scenario showing how we approach this kind of work, not a named client project.
- Organisation
- A music streaming service
- Sector
- Music
- Team engaged
- Market Research
- Services
- Consumer panel, Online surveys
Client challenge
The service wanted to convert free users to paid plans.
Research objectives
- Deliver on the brief: understanding music streaming habits.
- Understand the views, needs and behaviour of listeners.
- Produce results that can be compared across groups and locations.
- Give the client evidence it can act on within 4 weeks.
Target audience
The work focused on 2,500 listeners.
- listeners2,500
Audiences we typically reach in music
ListenersConcert-goersArtistsStreaming subscribersVenue operators
Geographic coverage
Coverage: India. Market: India.
- India
Research methodology
A structured quantitative design, so results could be compared across groups, locations and time.
- 1Brief
- 2Listener survey
- 3Insight
We surveyed listeners about listening habits, ads, offline use and willingness to pay.
Consumer panelOnline surveys
Sampling strategy
- listeners
- 2,500
- Online respondents were drawn from verified panel members who matched the screening criteria, with quotas on key profile attributes.
Data collection
- The online survey was mobile-friendly and offered in respondents' languages.
Data quality & validation
- Digital fingerprinting and duplicate checks
- Attention, speed and straight-lining checks
- Review of open-ended answers
- Logic and range checks on the final data
- Work carried out under our ISO 20252 quality procedures
Data analysis
- Cross-tabulation by key groups and locations
- Significance testing on the differences that mattered
Key findings
- Offline downloads were the main reason to pay.
Sell the feature people already miss.
Recommendations
- Build on the core insight: sell the feature people already miss.
- Focus effort where the evidence was strongest: offline downloads were the main reason to pay.
- Re-measure after the changes to confirm the effect.
Business impact
- The service highlighted downloads in its upgrade prompts.
What changed in the business as a result of the work. Impact is described qualitatively.
Deliverables & next steps
- Cleaned data file and data tables
- Repeat the measure after changes are in place to track progress.
- A natural follow-on question: why do subscribers stay?