The Shuffle Age: Global music fans unplugged

Differences between countries and age groups

Music fans engage in their passion differently country by country. For example, the festive culture of Brazilians make them the fans that engage most strongly through the logic of Social Connection (62%), whereas 9 out of 10 Chinese fans engage through the logic of Play.

Furthermore, age matters. Young fans aged 13-17 engage the most strongly through Immersion when they listen to music (64%). A majority of fans that are 35 and older engage through the Logic of Exploration (59%). This logic distinguishes the second edition of FANS.PASSIONS.BRANDS from the first, as it is a logic that stands out in music. The appetite for the new has been growing, as confirmed by the Shuffle Age and their multi-genre listening habits.

Insights for brands

The most engaged music fans live out their passion through five main logics: Immersion, Mastery, Advocacy, Play, and Exploration. These active fans are aware of brand sponsorships and are more likely than the average person to buy the products and services of sponsors, and even to recommend brands that are involved in their passion. A majority (55%) agree with brand music partnerships, such as the sponsorship of festivals or artist endorsements.

Looking beyond the most avid music fans, each logic of engagement represents a way to connect, and an opportunity to reach music fans. Brands should look to become the catalysts of engagement for one or several logics at a time by nurturing the right conditions.

A brand could facilitate Social Connection and Exploration at the same time by developing an online music platform, or partnering with one, to deliver new music content. The possibilities are multiplied through this new approach that opens doors to sponsor brands, or those looking to communicate through music.

Fredda Hurwitz, Chief Strategy Officer, Havas Sports & Entertainment commented:

"Music is an extremely effective marketing tool for brands looking to connect with people, as long as you can understand this passion and what drives it. Finding logic behind something that many feel cannot be explained is exactly what this research is about. We call this the Logics of Engagement, breaking music fanship down into behaviours, attitudes and perceptions in a way that can be understood and leveraged by brands to connect with their target audiences through valuable content and experiences.

"In order to capture the digitally native 'Shuffle Age' fan that engages through the 'Logic of Exploration', brands can help them discover new artists across music genres, thus creating unique meaningful moments they would like to share."

Andrew Ross, Managing Director, Havas Sports & Entertainment South Africa, says:

"As worldwide proprietary research, you don't get more 'ear to the ground' than with the FANS.PASSIONS.BRANDS survey. And to have South Africa data included is a huge coup for us as a company working in the South African Market."

About the research

The FANS.PASSIONS.BRANDS global survey was conducted in May 2015 across 17 markets - France, Spain, UK, Germany, Italy, Portugal, Poland, Russia, South Africa, the USA (including a specific focus on the Hispanic community), Mexico, Brazil, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, China and Belgium. The research method involved online questionnaires given to a total of 18,000 people, aged 13+, carried out by YouGov.

This wave focusing on music is the second of a set of yearly deep dives into one specific passion, which follows the 2014 edition on international football.

Further findings will be released at the end of 2015.