A. Objectives of the research and research questions

This study aims to take stock of the empirical evidence accumulated over 20 years of sustained scholarly interest in the music industries and the music consumer (Montoro-Pons, Caballer-Tarazona, and Cuadrado-Garćıa, 2021). Employing a repeated cross-sectional study. Employing a repeated cross-sectional study and a data-driven approach, we seek to explore the evolution of music consumption through a retrospective analysis, focusing on the diverse responses across different waves of a survey of cultural consumers in Spain. Particularly, we address the following research questions:

1. Identify emerging and declining patterns in music consumption (see for instance Aguiar and Waldfogel, 2018; Cho, Hwang, and Park, 2018; Koh, Hann, and Raghunathan, 2019; Maasø, 2018; Sim et al., 2022; Wlömert and Papies, 2016).

2. Profile music audiences over time across different markets and determine overlaps in audiences at specific points in time (examples include Favaro and Frateschi, 2007; Montoro-Pons and Cuadrado-Garćıa, 2016).

3. Detect the coupling (or decoupling) among specific music markets to detect spillovers or cross-market effects and analyze their dynamics over time (such as in Christensen, 2022; Krueger, 2005; Montoro-Pons and Cuadrado-Garćıa, 2011; Montoro-Pons, Caballer-Tarazona, and Cuadrado-Garćıa, 2023; Mortimer, Nosko, and Sorensen, 2012; Nguyen, Dejean, and Moreau, 2014; Papies and van Heerde, 2017; Ternovski and Yasseri, 2020).

B. Theoretical background

While drawing upon literature in the fields of economics and management, particularly focusing on the creative and cultural industries and the consumption of information goods, our approach is data-driven and aims to unveil patterns. In short, we expect to create knowledge through the discovery of regularities in music consumption, their dynamics and the underlying socio-demographic-economic factors, shedding light on how cultural preferences and market dynamics interact. Ultimately, we propose to generate testable hypotheses that examine the impact of socio-demographic-economic factors on the evolution of music consumption in Spain, aiming to quantitatively validate the patterns and links identified in the quantitative analysis.

C. Data and methods

Our research draws on data from the different waves of the Survey of Cultural Habits and Practices (SCHP), a survey conducted by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Sports and directed towards a sample of people aged 15 and over, with a theoretical sample size of roughly 16,000 units. Some key elements about SCHP:

1. It aims at evaluating cultural habits and practices of the Spanish population over time and analyzing specific aspects in cultural consumption as well as the channels through which audiences obtain specific cultural artifacts.

2. The questionnaire covers several aspects related to cultural participation. In relation to music it includes live participation as well as recorded music consumption habits. In this respect We use data on music consumption through live participation, recorded music purchases, music listening habits (physical/digital collection) and streaming.

3. Furthermore, the survey also provides information about attitudes towards and opinions on these practices, cultural equipment in Spanish households, educational attainment and other sociodemographics which can be used as potential predictors of participation in music markets.

4. Currently there are six waves of the survey (2003-04, 2006-07, 2010-11, 2014-15, 2018-19 and 2021-22) that allow to capture the dynamics and structural changes of cultural participation in Spain.

As for the methodology, we draw on both parametric and semi-parametric methods to identify patterns in music consumption as well as cross-market effects through a causal analysis based on observational data. Furthermore we aim at recover conditional effects to provide an insight into consumer heterogeneity (and its sources).

D. Expected results/contribution

Our work looks at music consumption using a restrospective analysis. In so doing we analyze the different music consumption markets and particularly

1. Profile consumers and single out the most significant traits and their evolution over time.

2. Identify the direction and strength of the cross-effects between music markets and their dynamic stability.

3. Measure the impact of the observed sources of individual heterogeneity in music participation.

While the analysis delivers a context to explore relations and test established theories, it also provides insights to formulate new hypotheses. In addition it also provides specific knowledge about audiences and their evolution which might be useful for performers, cultural entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the music ecosystems.

E. References

Montoro-Pons, Juan D and Manuel Cuadrado-García (2011). Live and prerecorded popular music consumption Journal of Cultural Economics 35.1, pp. 19-48.

Montoro-Pons, Juan D, María Caballer-Tarazona, and Manuel Cuadrado-García (2021). From pirates to subscribers: 20 years of music consumption research. International Journal of Consumer Studies 45.4, pp. 690-718.

Montoro-Pons, Juan D, María Caballer-Tarazona, and Manuel Cuadrado-García (2023). Assessing complementarities between live performances and YouTube video
streaming. Empirical Economics, volume 65, pages 2953–2978.

Montoro-Pons, Juan D and Manuel Cuadrado-García (2016). Unveiling latent demand in the cultural industries: An application to live music participation. International Journal of Arts Management, pp. 5-24.

Krueger, Alan B (2005). The economics of real superstars: The market for rock concerts in the material world. Journal of Labor Economics 23.1, pp. 1-30.

Mortimer, Julie Holland, Chris Nosko, and Alan Sorensen (2012). Supply responses to digital distribution: Recorded music and live performances. Information Economics and Policy 24.1, pp. 3-14.

Nguyen, Godefroy Dang, Sylvain Dejean, and François Moreau (2014). On the complementarity between online and offine music consumption: the case of free streaming. Journal of Cultural Economics 38.4, pp. 315-330.

Koh, Byungwan, Il-Horn Hann, and Srinivasan Raghunathan (2019). Digitization of music: Consumer adoption amidst piracy, unbundling, and rebundling. MIS Quarterly 43.1, pp. 23-45.

Maasø, Arnt (2018). Music Streaming, Festivals, and the Eventization of Music. Popular Music and Society 41.2, pp. 154-175.

Papies, Dominik and Harald J van Heerde (2017). The dynamic interplay between recorded music and live concerts: The role of piracy, unbundling, and artist characteristics. Journal of Marketing 81.4, pp. 67-87.

Sim, Jaeung et al. (2022). Frontiers: virus shook the streaming star: estimating the COVID-19 impact on music consumption. Marketing Science 41.1, pp. 19-32.

Christensen, Finn (2022). Streaming Stimulates the Live Concert Industry: Evidence from YouTube. International Journal of Industrial Organization 85, p. 102873.

Aguiar, Luis and Joel Waldfogel (2018). As streaming reaches flood stage, does it stimulate or depress music sales? International Journal of Industrial Organization 57, pp. 278-
307.

Wlömert, Nils and Dominik Papies (2016). On-demand streaming services and music industry revenues: Insights from Spotify's market entry. International Journal of Research in Marketing 33.2, pp. 314-327.

Ternovski, John and Taha Yasseri (2020). Social complex contagion in music listenership: A natural experiment with 1.3 million participants. Social Networks 61.October 2019, pp. 144-152.

Favaro, Donata and Carlo Filippo Frateschi (2007). A discrete choice model of consumption of cultural goods: the case of music. Journal of Cultural Economics 31.3, pp. 205
234.

Cho, Daegon, Youngdeok Hwang, and Jongwon Park (2018). More buzz, more vibes: Impact of social media on concert distribution. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization 156, pp. 103113.

The last ten years have seen a surge in arts audience research in academia. Classical music has been no exception, with ever-increasing publications investigating both the experience of audiences at classical music concerts, and the views of those who choose not to attend such events. This research has emerged from many different disciplines, such as: music psychology, arts management, sociology, and musicology. There is also a long history of audience research being conducted from within the arts sector, by classical music promoters, industry bodies and policymakers. This makes for a research area that is difficult to navigate. Furthermore, while the boundaries between these sectors are beginning to blur, researchers in each of these fields bring with them different methodologies, literature bases, and ideological baggage into their work with audiences.

In this paper, I present findings from a systematic review of available literature on classical music audiences. I will discuss the kinds of participants and classical events that have been researched, and those which have not been examined. By mapping the research tools used in each of these studies, I will also discuss the kinds of methods that are most commonly employed and where more work may be done in the future. And finally, I will discuss who is citing whom - which pieces of literature are the most influential in this field, which are overlooked, and what ramifications this has had on the development of the field. This paper comes from my current AHRC-funded fellowship ‘Audiences for Classical Music’.