Fans.Passions.Brands, Havas Sports & Entertainment’s research into sports and entertainment fanship, in partnership with the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Innovation Lab and Havas Media’s “18” innovation hubs, takes an in-depth look at people’s passion for music: what they listen to, how, where, and why, as well as their relationship to brands in this space. Global in scope, the research surveyed 18 000 people across 17 countries.

The results of Fans.Passions.Brands reveal a growing trend in music that owes its origins to the digital revolution. Due to the boom in the number of ways one can listen to music, thanks to streaming and online downloading, and therefore expanded access to music overall, the variety of genres that people listen to has exploded. This has given birth to a new age of passionate listeners who consume many styles of music: The “Shuffle Age”.

These music fans represent a major part of the population: 56% of people listen to at least 10 music genres. These fans are eager to discover new music and new musical experiences, which brands can play a role in facilitating.

In order for brands to engage multi-genre listeners, they need to understand why people listen to music and what it brings them.

Fans.Passions.Brands expands on Havas Sports & Entertainment’s unique approach to fanship, as this research analyses fans through their behaviors, attitudes and perceptions called the Logics of Engagement, as opposed to other fan studies that look at fans through levels or hierarchies.

The study applies eight Logics of Engagement to music fans:

  1. The Logic of Entertainment – enjoyment of the overall experience and atmosphere. 
  2.  The Logic of Immersion – will to lose oneself in the emotion of the music. 
  3. The Logic of Social Connection – desire to create or enhance relationships with other fans.
  4. The Logic of Identification – strongly associating music with one’s personal background. 
  5. The Logic of Advocacy – debating and promoting one’s opinions about musical taste and other music-related issues.
  6. The Logic of Play – virtual or real life participation in activities related to music. 
  7. The Logic of Mastery – interest in learning and understanding the details behind music.
  8. The Logic of Exploration – desire to discover new songs, artists, genres, venues and so on. 

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 to 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.

Find an infographic on this study here.

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