The Fans' Consumption: The Evolution of Behavioral Listening

 

The Fans' Consumption: The Evolution of Behavioral Listening

The consumer purchasing journey is continually evolving and becoming more complex. With new and endless options of products, brands, and ads constantly telling us what to wear, what to eat, and what to listen to, we must refine our criteria and become increasingly discerning. The decision to purchase arises from a need or desire, a search for information and evaluation, the actual purchase, and we can also consider feedback from the purchase. All these are fundamental stages where the consumer develops criteria and assesses how best to fulfill their needs.

When it comes to music, we consider that consumption and purchase are always activated to fulfill a desire. This is where art transforms into a product, and we treat music as a consumable. We consume music by listening to the radio, watching television, attending a rock concert, and even going to our favorite bar where less renowned musicians perform. We are constantly surrounded by such products, even if we are not buying directly; we are consuming music.

We observe that in the past, consumption was less aggressive in the world of music, and musicality and artistic aspects were more relevant. We had less access to novelties and products, and the music industry's consumption was considerably lower. We can consider that the direct purchase of music occurs through the acquisition of the media where the music is played, like the famous and enduring LPs, CDs until today's MP3s.

The evolution of the media reproducing musical works is an essential factor in understanding consumer behavior towards music. In the past, it took time to obtain the album of our favorite band; we waited for months until it arrived at the nearest record store, while today we can obtain a single even before it is officially released by the artists.

These changes have become significant changing factors in the music industry. Much is obtained, and little is paid compared to decades ago. We download music for free where technically, payment should be made; we buy pirated CDs on the street instead of the original. Of course, the current high costs contribute to piracy, but piracy also contributes to rising prices.

The truth is that due to easy access, we believe we shouldn't have to pay for it. We are demanding consumers who want the best, as quickly as possible, and at no cost. Why can't we have the right to listen to our favorite singer and put our favorite music on our MP3 without buying anything?

Music as a musical work becomes a product without us realizing the consequences. The artists themselves also set aside their passion for music and start thinking about the profit from their material. Behavior transforms as the world evolves and modernizes. In this scenario, fans become consumers who, because they are fans, become increasingly demanding, and the music industry increasingly focuses on how to profit even more from these fans.