83% young Indians are music crazy - Synovate survey

Asian youth spent more time listening to music, while over two-thirds (68 per cent) said that music is a very important part of their lives, according to the Branded and Synovate Music Matters survey released at the 2009 Music Matters Asia Pacific Music Forum in Hong Kong on Wednesday. In research that explores how passionate youth are about music, what music-related activities they engage in and their attitudes towards a digital music future, Synovate surveyed 8,841 respondents aged 15 to 24 years in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

The survey showed that music was particularly close to the hearts and minds of the young in India (83 per cent) and the Philippines (80 per cent); followed by Vietnam (77 per cent), China (69 per cent), Thailand (67 per cent) and Indonesia (65 per cent). "The love affair between music and young urban Asian consumers remains inseparable and it’s no surprise that music continues to be an important part of their daily lives. Our overall findings showed that 25 per cent were listening to music more in the last 12 months" says Synovate Executive Director - Media Steve Garton. Youthful consumers across different markets used multiple devices to listen to music with computers being the top choice in Vietnam (52 per cent), Taiwan (50 per cent), Malaysia (47 per cent), the Philippines and Hong Kong (34 per cent respectively). Across the region, MP3 players (27 per cent) and mobile phones (23 per cent) were also popular.

"As digital technology advances across Asia, consumers will demand that their gadgets serve as one-stop music shops. This trend is certainly on the rise and we will continue to see a convergence of technology in the future. "In fact, thirty-three percent of young consumers regionally indicated that they will use their MP3 players more followed by their computers (29 per cent) and mobile phones (25 per cent)" says Branded executive director Jasper Donat. Among young mobile phone owners, over half had used their mobile phones to listen to music. Thailand (70 per cent) lead the way, followed by Hong Kong and China (63 per cent respectively) then Vietnam (62 per cent) and Malaysia and India (both at 61 per cent).

"The importance of the mobile phone for playing music is also seen in music download figures, with close to half of users (46 per cent) accessing their computers to download music files which are later transferred to their mobile phones. Close to a quarter (21 per cent) downloaded music files directly to their mobile phones. Ideally, the music industry should be working with telecommunications companies to deliver music via mobile phone while marketers and brand owners should be exploring or realigning their strategies by incorporating music as a platform to reach this fast-growing and digitally driven segment," Garton adds.