Consumer preferences and behaviour regarding subscription-based music platforms and their alternatives.Tools Crook-Smith, George (2022) Consumer preferences and behaviour regarding subscription-based music platforms and their alternatives. [Dissertation (University of Nottingham only)]
AbstractSubscription music services have become the predominant way of listening to music in the 21st century. Spotify is the clear market leader across the globe. This paper will consider why Spotify has maintained market leadership despite the availability of alternatives, and why the company is perhaps unable to reach into the markets of vinyl and radio listening. Current research focuses on willingness to pay for subscription services, due to the characteristics of both the user and the service. Often with a focus on pricing decisions as the defining factor in decision making for subscribing. The analogue music market remains strong, and there has been a resurgence in vinyl consumption over the past few years. This qualitative study examines a sample of 25 students from the University of Nottingham and finds consistencies in subscription music platform preferences between users; familiarity of the service trumps many different options considered, with Spotify coming to the forefront though a herd effect made possible through ‘Spotify Free’. Contrary to existing literature, this study finds that users are highly unlikely to switch between competing alternatives when a service is initially selected. Even with the low financial costs of switching, they are financially unconcerned when they are already subscribed to a service, and do not often consider alternative options. Furthermore, alternative sources of music consumption such as vinyl and the radio, are found to be dissimilar to subscription services. Key differences in listening emotions and feel distance these products from subscription services to the point where they are perhaps considered substitute or complementary products, but are not direct alternatives to Spotify listening.
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