Hipster Rap Question: Who's in the Audience?

I'm still puzzling over bits and pieces of this hipster rap thing but I have a quick question for folks who've been going to shows or watching a lot of live videos featuring acts that have received the hipster rap label.

Who's in the audience?  Are they the predominantly white hipsters wearing ironic t-shirts and skinny pants associated with such locales as Williamsburg that we've seen in the media or are they something else?

If there's a disconnect at that point, then you can talk about hipster rap and hipsters as they connect to larger trends, but it seems kind of bogus to say they're part of the same movement or demographic.

Audible Hype's No BS GT Hip Hop Demographics

Justin Boland digs into the issue of hip hop demographics and is off to a great start.

Go say something worthwhile so he'll keep at it!

uPlayMe Stumbles on Homepage's Demographic Outreach

Photo Currently Featured on uPlayMe Homepage

I saw this announcement regarding Dan Pelson's move from Senior VP of Global Consumer Marketing at Warner Music Group to CEO of uPlayMe.  Congratulation Mr. Pelson!

So I went to check out uPlayMe and was a bit startled by the demographic statement of who's welcome embedded in the above homepage photograph.

Dan, get on that for us, will you?

Update:
Check out the comments for Mr. Pelson's smart reply to this post.

He didn't front.  He didn't try to brush it off.  He didn't lie.

He gently manned up and addressed the issue.

That's something from which the overly sensitive blog comment thugs at such operations as Global Grind and ThisIs50.com could learn.

Ypulse Launches Youth-Focused Ypulse Research

Ypulse, the "leading independent blog for media and marketing professionals seeking to reach youth audiences", recently announced the launch of Ypulse Research:

"a neutral platform and channel within Ypulse.com, where youth-oriented research reports and white papers will be available for sale. Additionally, Ypulse Research provides unique advertising opportunities where research companies can promote their companies, studies and services via traditional online advertising units."

This is a nice look for Ypulse which is working with Modern Media Partners on the project.  I like the fact that they're using blogging software for their catalog of research reports.

As a B2B play, Anastasia Goodstein began expanding Ypulse from a blog to a full-time business in 2006 including the Annual Ypulse National Mashup conference.

Tip via Lynne d Johnson.

Global Habbo Youth Survey: US Kids Like Hip Hop!

Brandweek reports on a survey of teens [11-18] conducted by teen oriented virtual world Habbo that I assume is the Global Habbo Youth Survey.  However they are focusing on only the figures for U.S. teenagers which find that rap/hip hop is the favorite music genre of U.S. teens surveyed [brief reference near the end of the article].

Though the press release for the Global Habbo Youth Survey doesn't mention hip hop, it does have more about the larger research report including what Habbo's researchers claim to have identified as "five clearly defined behavioral segments amongst respondents".

This is the second such survey by Habbo parent company Sulake who conducted the first survey in fall 2006.

From Sulake's Blog:
Habbo’s Second Global Youth Survey reveals shake up in teens' favourite mobile brands

23) Pew/Internet Reports: Teens and Social Media

The Pew Internet & American Life Project released a report on Teens and Social Media this week available for free download.

Some of the findings include:

Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004.

Girls continue to dominate most elements of content creation. Some 35% of all teen girls blog, compared with 20% of online boys, and 54% of wired girls post photos online compared with 40% of online boys. Boys, however, do dominate one area - posting of video content online. Online teen boys are nearly twice as likely as online girls (19% vs. 10%) to have posted a video online somewhere where someone else could see it...

There is a subset of teens who are super-communicators -- teens who have a host of technology options for dealing with family and friends, including traditional landline phones, cell phones, texting, social network sites, instant messaging, and email. They represent about 28% of the entire teen population and they are more likely to be older girls.

Super-communicators!

That's a big chunk of kids moving into the always-on, always-connected world and it sounds like young women are in the forefront.

4) Has SeeqPod Captured the Baby Boomers?

I'm not even reading most Best of 2007 lists and/or posts but SeeqPod, one of these new-fangled "playable search" engines, released a list of the top 100 search terms for 2007 that caught my attention.

Here are the Top 20:

1. The Beatles
2. Linkin Park
3. Metallica
4. Pink Floyd
5. Eminem
6. Queen
7. Radiohead
8. Madonna
9. Rihanna
10. Kanye West
11. Daft Punk
12. Justin Timberlake
13. U2
14. Led Zeppelin
15. Akon
16. Bob Dylan
17. Michael Jackson
18. Pearl Jam
19. Coldplay
20. Rolling Stones

I get the feeling SeeqPod has some heavy baby boomer usage.

Here's the full Top 100.

The Old Take Revenge by Letting Youth Fight it Out

From the press release for the European Youth Culture Study research report:

A "New Media Generation Gap" now exists between 15-20-year-olds and 21-25-year-olds when comparing patterns in mobile phone usage, Internet, Personal Profiles, Social Online Networks, + Communication, marking a shift in the marketplace, particularly in the UK, followed by France, then Germany.

I'm realizing that as each generation of youth gets shorter in length and shelf-life, current folks termed "young" will be getting a much quicker taste of what it means to be considered "old" before they've fully enjoyed their youth or managed to figure out what's next.

That's so sad [insert sobbing emoticon].

China Youth Culture Study of 15 to 25 Year Olds

Some interesting highlights from a press releases regarding Label Network's China Youth Culture Study 07':
This is the only consumer insights study about the 15-25-year-olds marketplace in China and is one of the most profiled subscription programs from Label Networks due to the rarity of getting this kind of information...

Sneaker Culture remains a competitive marketplace in China, but with new stand-outs including New Balance in Shanghai and Li Ning among 15-17-year-olds indicates that while the race it tight for top brands, there's movement and space for entry of others...

Basketball + hero Yao Ming continue to set new trends in sports with males and females taking up basketball and greatly influenced by the American NBA...

Shanghai + Rap/Hip-Hop: Here, young people clearly have the most diverse tastes in music preferences and the strongest market that prefers Rap/Hip-Hop at 37.1% among 15-25-year-olds.

Official Sites:
China Youth Culture Study 07'
Label Networks

Demographics: Boometrics, Multicultural Marketing

The following research studies are good reminders that marketers have to consider and address the diversity within any demographic schema.

The NPD Group's Boometrics study, conducted for the National Association of Recording Merchandisers and AARP, shows that "baby boomers (born between 1941 and 1964) now account for a third of all music sales."

In addition:
More than 70 percent of the 76 million baby boomers in the U.S. report buying music in the past year, making it the most important buying segment for CDs and an increasingly important market for digital downloads.

Market to us while you can but don't assume we all like the same things or like being lumped together by age.  Ask Eons!

The Yankelovich MONITOR Multicultural Marketing Study for 2007/2008 found that African American and Hispanic respondents enjoy advertising more than other ethnic groups but find it only somewhat relevant "personally and culturally".

Emphasizing that as artists cross over into mainstream markets they may seem less authentic to African American or Hispanics, the press release gives an example using hip hop:
Hip-hop music is a good case-in-point. When African American respondents were asked about aspects of their culture and traditions they feel are the most important to preserve, "Music/Songs" was cited second most frequently, right behind "History."

As different types of African American music/songs become increasingly borrowed by the general population, they may become less effective as a means of connecting directly with African American consumers. So in this example mainstream hip-hop artists that are known to general audiences would not be considered as authentic as using more "underground" artists known exclusively by African American audiences.

The Yankelovich study also emphasized that ethnic groups are not homogenous and that "multicultural marketing needs to become more multi-dimensional", a point made in a different way regarding Hispanic diversity as revealed in BIGresearch's latest Simultaneous Media Survey.

Official Sites of Research Firms:
The NPD Group
Yankelovich
BIGresearch

Alloy Access Reveals the Urban Hustler Demographic

Alloy Access has released a demographic study of the "Urban Hustler".  For older generations, the term hustler may still conjure up scenes from Midnight Cowboy.  But for younger folks, or those obsessed with tales of rising from the hood to global pop stardom, a hustler is an aspirational figure who may have gotten where he got in less than legal ways but is all about working hard and going legit.

However, Alloy Access is going for something bigger, the use of the term "Urban Hustler" to define a slice of the U.S. demographic pie that maps on to a lucrative cross-section of the hip hop listening and living market.

The press release doesn't give a brief straightforward definition but sketches out the dimensions of this demographic group.  Here's a bit:

Redefining themselves as positive, upwardly mobile 'hustlers', the group is identified as the new "Urban Hustler".  Alloy Access sought to provide a clear portrayal of this new brand of consumer, a segment representing a significant slice, 19.6 million, of the 12-34 year old demographic that is highly coveted by corporate America, yet a segment that remains ill defined in the marketplace...

No longer confined to a demographic living in inner-city zip codes, the Urban Hustler has come to represent a specific mindset born out of the unique energy, creativity and diversity of America’s urban centers - closely connected to hip-hop, ethnically diverse with aspirations to succeed and a shared set of passions...

Nearly four in ten (39%) Urban Hustlers live in suburban areas and a similar amount (39%) of the group are white.  What further distinguishes the consumers in this market is a shared belief in their own influence.

The Urban Hustler is a self-proclaimed trendsetter, with almost three-quarters (73%) characterizing themselves as someone their friends seek out for advice on the latest trends.  They spend a significant portion of their discretionary income hustling to define and keep up with what’s hot.

I checked in with Alloy Access for additional methodological info beyond what's in the press release and should be getting more detailed material soon.  However, I was informed that the folks whose responses represent the dimensions of the Urban Hustler were those who revealed, in rating a "variety of attributes", that they were best described by such statements as:

-People look to me for the newest, hottest trends
-I enjoy the energy of urban, city life
-Hip hop culture is important to me
-Success equals money, fame and respect

So what they've done is to sketch out a lucrative subsection of the larger hip hop demographic, however that larger demographic is defined.

I also asked how folks like Damon Dash and Kwame Decuir were chosen for quotes and received this reply:
We are advertising partners with Blocksavvy, Damon Dash's social networking play, so he and co-founder Kwame were interested in commenting on the study and backed the importance of conducting the report to quantify these influential consumers. Blocksavvy was built to connect these consumers identified.

Believe me, I'll be thinking a lot about this study and look forward to both examining more background info and following the response.  Not to disparage the accomplishments of the folks at Alloy Access but what this study reveals most strongly is the broader lack of examination of the hip hop demographic and the fact that most discussions of said demographic trade in cliches based on personal observations rather than solid data.

So it's good to see Alloy Access exploring the topic and I'm hoping to see a lot more activity in this area in the future.

For more on Alloy Access:
Alloy Access

Related ProHipHop coverage:
Block Savvy Community Launches w/Damon Dash's Support

Demographics: Generation Tech & China Youth Culture

Jasmine France reports on two panels at Generation Tech: Plugging In With Teens, one composed of high school students, the other made up of college students.  Via Hear 2.0.

Research and Markets Label Networks releases highlights of a research report on China Youth Culture.  [press release updated 6/5]

Pew Internet Report Details Typology of Tech Users

The Pew Internet & American Life Project today released a report entitled  A Typology of Information and Communication Technology Users, part of its excellent series of free research reports.

According to the press release:
These findings come from the Pew Internet Project’s typology of information and communication technology (ICT) users. The typology categorizes Americans based on the amount of ICTs they possess, how they use them, and their attitudes about the role of ICTs are in their lives. Ten separate groups emerge in the typology.

This report is not focused on gadgets but on usage and so would be quite useful for any web publisher or marketer trying to reach people via Web and mobile communications.

Black Enterprise Includes Raleigh-Durham & Charlotte in Top Ten Cities for African Americans

Though ProHipHop does not typically cover African American business per se, the strength of both the African American community and African American businesses is crucial to the state of hip hop business, despite hip hop's increasingly multicultural nature.  So I was interested to see that Black Enterprise's top ten cities for African Americans includes two North Carolina metro areas, Raleigh-Durham at no. 3 and Charlotte at no. 7.

Black Enterprise editors used the following criteria for the rankings:
median household income, percentage of households earning more than $100,000, percentage of businesses owned, percentage of college graduates, unemployment rates, home loan rejections, and homeownership rates

To be honest, I generally discourage outsiders from moving here cause we have plenty of people already.  But, despite the Triangle's charms (that's Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill), I truly believe that Charlotte is a boomtown waiting to happen.  They've been quite forward thinking about public transit while the Triangle's Democrats and Republicans focused on feeding at the developers' troughs.  From a distance, Charlotte appears to have even more possibilities for growth and development than exist in the Triangle, which has been rapidly developing for quite some time, though the Triangle's African American community still appears underserved in the process.

If you're even vaguely swayed by the possibility, check out real estate prices in Charlotte, especially if you're from the Northeast or California.  It will be like a peak back in time.

SnapDragon Consultants and Kate Rigg Provide Insights Into Asian-American Youth

Slav's post on Youth Trends from MAGIC reminded me of a recent report from SnapDragon Consultants and Kate Rigg on Ten Things Every Brand Should Know About Asian-American Youth.

The 10 "key insights":

  1. Many Asian-American youth feel excluded and misunderstood by most
     brands. It's made worse by the fact that they see advertisers actively
     wooing the African-American and Hispanic markets.
  2. Mixed race kids are proudly identifying as Hapa, a once derogatory word
     in Hawaiian to mean "half." Hapa is also slang for marijuana in
     Japanese (spelled Happa). Hapa is supplanting terms like Amerasian,
     biracial, and blasian.
  3. Asian-American youth are secret fans of "easy listening" adult
     contemporary music. Lite FM is a hidden passion.
  4. There's a "hero gap" among Asian-American kids, which is being filled
     for many by activists from other cultures. Martin Luther King is a role
     model and hero to many young Asian-Americans.
  5. Most Asian-American kids refer to white people as "white people" the
     same way African-Americans do.
  6. Underage gambling is huge. The "new" American poker obsession is
     nothing new to Asian-American kids. Gambling has a long history in
     Asian culture. Many students Rigg spoke with are avid online gamblers
     and card players. Some organize private online poker tournaments.
  7. Asian-American kids want an end to the hyper-nerdy images of
     themselves on TV and want to see more punked-out skater and graffiti
     DJ images which reflect a different energy. The feeling is:  Enough with
     the math geeks, future doctors and violinists. Asian-American kids crave
     street credibility -- not just academic accolades.
  8. Asian-American kids universally hate the question:  Where are you from
     -- especially since the answers are usually something like
     "Westchester" or "Boston."
  9. All things Korean are hot and getting hotter. Fashion. Foods. DJs.
     Online communities. Korea is the new Japan.
  10. The 15 minutes of seemingly benign American Idol fame for William
      Hung had a surprisingly negative effect on Asian-American students.
      There's a feeling that Hung perpetuated the worst stereotypes about
      Asian people and gave non-Asians permission to indulge in two years
      of racial stereotyping and mocking.

Interestingly enough, the report was based on interviews that Kate Rigg conducted with Asian-American youths from 14 to 23 in preparation for a performance piece scheduled for the Smithsonian.

Official Site:
SnapDragon Consultants