Latest Market Research on Market Expansion
Ines Chen
Two types of users
Audio Creators
Audio creators(artists, bands, podcasters and ordinary people) who provide the content for self-promotion or sharing. (They also act as the audience using the site to interact with others.)
AudienceUsers who listen to the audio files, give comments and share audio files on SoundCloud community or Facebook.
Contents
1. Which vertical should we focus on?
2. How will I test my hypothesis?
3. How can we apply the insights?
Which vertical should we focus on?
The future is already here.It's just not very evenly distributed. - William Gibson
((The new era of radio)) has already arrived.
Why radio?
U.S. online radio market size
In 2013, •Online radio is expected to generate 827 million U.S. dollars in revenue.•67.4 % of the U.S. internet users will have become online radio users by 2016.
In 2012, •46.76 million Americans used such services.•Tuned in 9 hours 46 minutes every week.
Sources: http://www.statista.com/topics/1348/online-radio
Market Share
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253260/leading-online-radio-companies-in-the-us-by-active-sessions/
• 8.5 % of all radio listening time in the U.S. in Feb 2013
• The highest rate of awareness and broadest reach among similar online services in 2012
Mayor Competitor:
Pandora
Source: http://www.statista.com/topics/1349/pandora/
Pandora’s competitive analysis
Strength1. Self tailored music station
supported by its algorithm2. Automated music
recommendation based on collective user feedback
1. Unable to create and share your own playlist
2. No social feature: “follow & discover”
3. Limited social media integration.4. No playlist created by artists and
influencers5. Lukewarm relationship with
music industry and artists6. Service limited in 3 countries
Weakness
Pandora’s weakness SoundCloud’s strength
1. Easily create and share your own playlist 2. Strong social media & social network integration:
follow & discover artists3. Many playlists created by artists and influencers4. Strong relationship with music industry and artists5. Global service
Potential market for SoundCloud
Steal market share by positioning SoundCloud as a social stream music site
Maximize SoundCloud’s advantage: the largest community of creators of music & audio
Complement traditional radio station’s weakness
80/20 RuleReuse existing features to solve “new” problems & add more value
Radio creators’ problems & needs
• Enhance reach and awareness• Get to know their audience
and feedbacks improve the content & target radio ads
Source: http://www.radioworld.com/article/can-soundcloud-help-your-station/218135
• High costs to cover the bandwidth and servers
• No know-how about setting up a radio
Creators: 1. Existing traditional radio stations 2. People who want to set up an online radio station.
Problems Needs
Audience’s problems & needs
Problems Needs
1. Radio services can’t help them search for new music.
2. Online music sites can’t give expert’s opinion on music and provide info about what others are listening to.
3. Annoying ads or paid subscription services
1. Curiosity about the artist’s and band’s information
2. Curiosity about what friends & others think of songs, talks, and radio content
3. Use mobile phones to listen to radio
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/239702/social-engagement-while-listening-to-internet-radio-in-the-us/The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery (http:www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf)
Source: The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery (http:www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf)
Based on TargetSpot Research & my observation…
38-42% of people “discover new music” via online radios
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253409/reasons-for-using-online-radio/ The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery: http://www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf
Reuse existing features to solve radio creators’ problems
Easily create an online radio program anywhere & anytime.
Enhance the interaction between DJs and their audience.
Social media & network integration
Affordable Pro plan with comprehensive analytics
Source: http://www.radioworld.com/article/can-soundcloud-help-your-station/218135
Adding value to existing creatorsAct as a radio station sharing knowledge about music via their music radios or radio shows and expand their audience.
Solve audience’s problems:Radio + MusicSoundCloud app
[2 in 1]: Radio + Music in SoundCloud app
•Convenience: listening to radio, discover, and search for new music at one site•Insights: radio hosts & DJs provide great sharing of music and artists.
People matters. People like to have interactions and a company; time spent on radio program is longer.
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253292/role-of-the-radio-in-the-lives-of-us-consumers-by-age/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/252204/weekly-time-spent-listening-to- the-radio-in-the-us-by-age-and-gender/
Listening to radio is a habitual behavior. Increasing user engagement & connection
Hypothesis
Having the online radio vertical, which enables people listen to radio, discover, and search for music at one site, would be popular between radio creators and their audience.
Design the research & Test the hypothesis Get out of the building!
Three ways to test the hypothesis
Macro level:– Online survey– Focus group interview
Micro level– Interview with a wireframe demo
Regarding the research plan to choose, it depends on the budget and timeline.
Five aspects of online survey questions
1. Demographic information 2. User’s existing behaviors and approaches toward
using online radio3. Needs and reasons for using online radio4. User’s opinion toward our competitor’s sites5. Factors that influence their decision toward using
online radio service.
Gain insights from the focus group interview
1. Identify patterns
1. Identify the user types
2. Address their specific pain points
3. Explore the possible improvement and solutions
_______ ________ ______ ____ ________ ____________ Problem Emotions Process Role Contexts Practical Needs
Interview with a wireframe demo
1. Test the understanding of the problem 2. Get customer feedbacks3. Test the understanding of the solutions 4. Test whether the solution really solves the core
problem of customers5. Learn the minimum viable features from the initial
stage
Micro Level
Conclusion from the research
To answer the five key questions:
Who is our target user? What do they care about?
When and where will they use our product?
What features will differentiate our product?
ProductTeam
Discovery feature
Radio waveform inserted each song for users to discover and search for new music
Develop radio
widgets
Develop easily-used widgets by the engineering team or third-party
Tag feature DJ’s & host’s names, language, and mood.Local
feature Tune Facebook info to identify user’s place to provide local radio recommendation
New category Radio category various subcategories
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253292/role-of-the-radio-in-the-lives-of-us-consumers-by-age/
Turn the insights into action
MarketingTeam
Social media & blog sharing and promotion Connect with the radio community Build up a radio community, e.g. the global radio DJs/ hosts meetup day and meet your local DJs/hosts
Press release for promoting radio features to new usersCommunity
Team SouncCloud 101 for radio stations Event:radio hackathon
PartnershipTeam
Cooperate with global & regional radio companies. Others: car integration
ContentTeam
Put radio features at the homepage
Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/245275/weekday-and-weekend-radio-use-in-the-us-by-location/
Turn the insights into action
What kind of impact we have on our users?
From my campus radio to BBC, from any radio to songs it plays,
the distance is within“one or two clicks”.
Q&A