Amans Disso - Can I Kick it, independently

This project is submitted in part fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of BA
with Honours in Marketing Management at the Manchester Metropolitan University
Business School.
Title of project: A study on whether Social Media enables US Hip Hop artists
to develop a career independently and if this reduces the
relevancy of major record labels.
Name: Amanjit Singh Sandhu
Statement of Originality and Authenticity
This Research Project is an original and authentic piece of work by me. I have fully
acknowledged and referenced all secondary sources used. It has not been
presented in whole or in part for assessment elsewhere. I have read the
Examination Regulations, and am fully aware of the potential consequences of any
breach of them.
Date of submission: …………………. Signature: ……………………

Abstract
This report has been generated to fulfil a gap in literature regarding the Hip Hop genre of music and
the importance of digital marketing, in particular Social Media, within this industry. A trend that
has been noticed on key blogs within this genre is that artists are able to remain independent thanks
to YouTube and SoundCloud allowing them to distribute music easily at no cost. As a consequence
of this trend, the major record labels who were traditionally perceived as the driving force behind
an artists’ success, appear to no longer hold value in the artist or consumers eyes. The aim of this
study is to discover if Social Media enables Hip Hop artists within the USA to develop a career and
build a fan base independently or if major record labels are required. Through a questionnaire,
consumer insight revealed they would not have discovered their favourite artist without Social
Media and that they have no preference as to whether that artist is signed to a major label or not.
Thus, independent artists can strive to success using purely digital marketing tools.

Acknowledgements
It is both sad and joyful to acknowledge that this is the last piece of academic work to bring my
undergraduate degree to a close. It has been an eventful, enlightening and entertaining four years
living away from home as the first in the family to pursue further education.
I would like to thank all those individuals, family and friends alike that have been around me during
this journey. Those I worked alongside during group tasks, those that have provided a help in hand
and those that have invested time into my life. I would like to say thank you.
Additionally, I’d like to send my sincerest gratitude to my project tutor, Jeff McCarthy, who
supported me throughout this research project. Due to his encouragement, understanding and vast
experience, the process of completing this difficult project was made a lot easier.
Lastly, I must thank Hip Hop.
“Fire burning inside my eyes, this the music that saved my life
Y'all be calling it hip-hop, I be calling it hypnotize
Yeah, hypnotize, trapped my body but freed my mind”
- Kendrick Lamar, 2011

Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Introduction ......................................................................................................................1
1.0 Background ...............................................................................................................................1
2.0 Aim & Objectives.......................................................................................................................2
Chapter 2: Literature Review..............................................................................................................3
1.0 Social Media..............................................................................................................................3
1.1 Twitter...................................................................................................................................4
1.2 YouTube ................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Soundcloud ...........................................................................................................................5
2.0 Hip Hop Music Industry.............................................................................................................6
2.1 Cultural Influence..................................................................................................................6
3.0 Record Labels............................................................................................................................7
3.1 Independent Labels...............................................................................................................9
4.0 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................9
Chapter 3: The Research Method.....................................................................................................10
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................10
2.0 The Research Philosophy ........................................................................................................10
3.0 Research Approach.................................................................................................................11
4.0 Data gathering techniques......................................................................................................12
5.0 Sampling Strategy ...................................................................................................................14
6.0 Data Analysis Techniques........................................................................................................15
7.0 Limitations...............................................................................................................................16
7.1 Time and Resources............................................................................................................16
7.2 Generalisability ...................................................................................................................16
7.3 Reliability.............................................................................................................................16
Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis ......................................................................................................17
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................17
2.0 The Sample..............................................................................................................................17
3.0 Into the Mind of Hip Hop Consumers.....................................................................................18
4.0 Hip Hop Consumer Engagement.............................................................................................21
Chapter 5: Conclusions .....................................................................................................................25
1.0 Introduction ............................................................................................................................25
2.0 Theoretical Implications..........................................................................................................25
3.0 Managerial Implications..........................................................................................................25
4.0 Future Research Opportunities...............................................................................................26
5.0 Critical Reflection....................................................................................................................27

AMANJIT SINGH SANDHU 2
Bibliography ......................................................................................................................................29
Appendices........................................................................................................................................33
Appendix 1: Initial questionnaire design for pilot test .................................................................33
Appendix 2: Re-design of questionnaire based on feedback .......................................................36
Appendix 3: Visual results from questionnaire.............................................................................39
Appendix 4: Frequency of qualitative answer from Questionnaire..............................................42
Table of Figures
Figure 1: Push and Pull Marketing Strategy........................................................................................8
Figure 2: The Research 'Onion' .........................................................................................................10
Figure 3: Questionnaire Design Steps...............................................................................................13
Figure 4: The Sampling Frame with population and sample ............................................................14

Chapter 1: Introduction
1.0 Background
Since the creation of the first ever record company in 1887, artists around the world were
persuaded to sign contracts to gain financial support, larger distribution and a marketing team to
create demand for their music (Allen, 2007). As time progressed, these companies began controlling
their artists’ creativity to ensure their products were as profitable as possible (Tschmuck, 2006). To
maximise return, the record companies would invest heavily in four promotional strategies: radio
promotion, TV advertising, sales promotions in retail and publicity, so that demand for the album
would reach millions of consumers (Hutchinson, 2010).
With the turn of the millennia came the introduction of the ‘digital age’ which affected many
business models and disrupted the traditional processes of industries such as music in a drastic way
(Hawkes, 2008: Allegrezza, 2012). The print media and music industry alike witnessed declines in
sales as consumers began obtaining news and music online through free file sharing websites, e.g.
Napster (Tofel, 2012: Mitten, 2002). Over thirty million users were downloading music from this
website. In response, Apple introduced ‘iTunes’ which opened the industry to the world of the
digital distribution of music (Tschmuck, 2006).
This industry shift to digital appeared to provide a great source of revenue for record companies as
digital music sales grew by 47%, from $0.4 (billion) in 2004 to $5.9 (billion) in 2014 (IFPI, 2014). The
majority of this growth was dominated by the US market as consumers around the World are
exposed to artists from this market the most, through traditional media (Informa telecoms & media,
2011). Due to its dominance, this study will particularly focus on this US market. As a consequence
of this shift, record companies failed to anticipate the rise of emerging popularity of independent
labels and artists who also grew and managed to capture 34.6% of the US recorded music market
share by label ownership (AAIM, 2014: Soundscan, 2013).
The rise in independent growth can be credited to the impact of Social Media platforms such as:
Twitter, YouTube and SoundCloud, which are free tools for any individual to share videos, audio
and messages directly to fans that follow them (Cohen, 2013). Artists within the Hip Hop genre
were identified to utilise these platforms best, as listeners of this genre and frequent users of Social
Media are generally young (Robehead, 2013). A Forbes (2013) article portrays examples of two Hip
Hop artists becoming very successful by using Social Media as a promotion tool. The first, Dom
Kennedy, engaged with fans on Twitter and featured on songs with more popular artists in Hip Hop
allowing him to increase his fan base and inevitably garner 800,000 downloads of his free album.
Second, Tech N9ne gained $7.9 (million) from 2012-2013 purely through merchandising, touring

and gaining larger revenue from his album sales as he had no major label to take a percentage. This
artist took a similar approach, using YouTube to share his music videos which were then shared by
fans and online blogs.
One key online blog, Complex, that focuses on Hip Hop features, stated how sites like YouTube and
SoundCloud allow artists to distribute their music for free, thus they are able to sidestep labels
altogether (Drake, 2015). The article mentioned how ignoring major label deals is becoming a
popular theme in Hip Hop with artists like Chance the rapper and Dom Kennedy ignoring deals
worth $5-7 million. Chance, the rapper noticeably mentioned in a RollingStone (2013) interview
that he may never release music that fans have to pay for and will make money from touring and
merchandise instead.
What if this trend continues to grow and the ideology that the latter artist mentioned becomes a
consistent theme in independent artists’ careers? Would this effect the profitability for major
record labels who seemingly are not required to market or distribute music? Can all Hip Hop artists
really sustain a career and build a fan base independently? These questions and this potential
problem for major record labels have not been addressed in academic literature to date. This had
lead the researcher to feel the necessity to conduct such study surrounding these themes to
strengthen and update literature that is currently available regarding Hip Hop and marketing.
2.0 Aim & Objectives
The following aim and objectives were designed to be fulfilled within the literature review and
research design of this study. Upon gathering and analysing findings, theoretical and managerial
implications will conclude the study and potentially open up opportunity for future research.
Aim: To discover if Social Media enables US Hip Hop artists to develop a career independently and
if this reduces the relevance of major record labels.
Objectives:
I. To find out how major record labels traditionally operated to market their artists and the
share of revenue they received.
II. To determine if Hip Hop consumers have a preference to whether an artist is signed or
independent and if this influences their purchasing decision.
III. To discover what tools Hip Hop consumers use to listen to and stay up-to-date with Hip Hop
artists.
IV. To analyse whether being an independent artist is the future for Hip Hop or the direction
the music industry is shifting towards.

Chapter 2: Literature Review
1.0 Social Media
Many Authors such as Hanna et al (2011) and Mangold (2009) believe that Social Media was introduced in
2003, when the World was presented with MySpace. However, Kaplan & Haenlein (2009) believe that it
may have started 20 years earlier when the website “Open Diary” was released - bringing together a
community of online diary writers. More users joined Social Media sites when high-speed internet became
more popular and this caused a technological and cultural revolution where 65% of all UK households were
connected in 2008 to the internet (Stileman, 2009).
Stileman (2009) recites a definition originally presented by Solis (2007) who outlines Social Media as an
online tool people use to facilitate conversations, interact with one another and to share content in the
form of opinions, experiences and media articles. This ties in to frequently named concepts that correlate
with Social Media and ones which Kaplan & Haenlein (2009) state must be understood in order to grasp
what Social Media is. These concepts are Web 2.0 and User Generated Content (UGC).
The term Web 2.0 is a natural evolution of Web 1.0 – where the latter refers to content and applications
being created and published by individuals / brands; the former represents the change whereby content
was continuously adjusted by multiple users (Fountain, 2008). Amongst blogs and wikis, Web 2.0 also
allowed audio and video streams on web pages for greater interactivity (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). This
change supports the Social Media definition proposed by Hopkins (2008) who said that platforms such as
Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn are all platforms for interaction and networking. Due to Web 2.0
permitting audio and video streams, its importance for independent Hip Hop artists could be found
within this study as it seeks to understand how consumers listen to music from their favourite artists,
which could be YouTube and SoundCloud (audio and video streaming social media sites).
UGC, a term that had circled around since the 80s, achieved broad popularity around 2005 as Web 2.0
developed (Kaplan & Haenlein, 2009). The term describes content that is created by end-users based on
three things: it must be shared on a publically accessible website such as Social Media, it must display
some creative effort and lastly, the content must be created outside of professional grounds (Kaplan &
Haenlein, 2009). This could suggest that Hip Hop artists creating original music and posting it onto public
sites such as SoundCloud and YouTube are not considered UGC as they are doing this with the interest
of their profession. Leung (2009) reported that UGC has influenced traditional media as it allowed people
to express an independent viewpoint which was conventionally blocked by the corporate media. This
research may also discover a similar correlation within the Hip Hop genre, as traditionally major record

companies acted as the ‘middle-man’ between the artist and consumer but with Social Media there is a
direct link.
Michahelles (2009) mentioned there are four drivers of UGC that have allowed it to grow into what it is
today: technological, social, economic and legal. The latter two drivers were the most impactful for the
music industry as economic drivers represent technologies becoming more affordable for those of lower
socio-economic backgrounds. Additionally, it incurs economic opportunity, i.e. YouTube, a Social Media
platform, allows video monetisation so its users can make money through ad-revenue, thus encouraging
more content creators to the site. Lastly, legal drivers represent the ownership of content to ensure the
creator of the UGC will always hold property rights of the material they share on these public websites. As
Michahelles (2009) did not exclusively concentrate on how these drivers impacted any industry, the
researcher will explore that gap in this study by finding out whether YouTube has become a critical
listening tool for consumers of Hip Hop music.
Upon understanding the key concepts surrounding Social Media, there is a realisation that there are an
infinite number of definitions for this term; a new definition can be proposed. Social Media is a product
of Web 2.0, whereby users of its platforms produce UGC in order to network and interact through
mutual interests.
1.1 Twitter
Twitter (www.twitter.com) will be one of the highlighted platforms in this research, alongside YouTube
and Soundcloud. It is identified as a micro-blogging site, as users are only able to post up to 140 characters
(Honeycutt and Herring, 2009). Huberman et al (2008) conducted research to analyse exactly how people
on Twitter operate. One of their key findings was that people that receive a lot of attention i.e. more
followers and more people directly tweeting them, will show higher productivity by posting a lot more in
comparison to people that receive little attention. Within this study that focuses particularly on Hip Hop
artists, rather than ordinary people, the researcher will try reveal whether Twitter is commonly used
amongst consumers to stay up-to-date with artists. If Twitter is commonly used, it would be interesting
to follow up Huberman et al (2008) study and find whether frequently chosen Hip Hop artists within the
sample are active on Twitter. Marwick & Boyd (2011) piloted a study which analysed the top 237 followed
people, of which contained celebrities in politics, music, film, technologists and business. They learnt that
these celebrities operate on this platform differently; in that even though they are individual accounts,
they are sometimes operated by multiple people such as managers, ghost-tweeters, PR teams all in which
try to impersonate the voice of the celebrity. The approach most celebrities take that Marwick & Boyd
(2011) found most important was for them to show an insight, an almost ‘behind the scenes’ view of their

life and opinions through pictures which provided fans with gossip to consume. If a majority of the sample
in this study use Twitter to stay up-to-date with artists, it can be assumed that the mentioned study also
applies in this genre to keep these consumers coming back to this Social Media platform.
1.2 YouTube
YouTube (www.youtube.com), a video sharing website, owned by Google Inc. (Huffingtonpost, 2013) is
the third most visited Web page in the world (Alexa, 2011). The videos shared on this site vastly range
from music videos, comedy skits, video blogs (vlogs) and more (YouTube, 2015). It is labelled to be more
of a social networking site than a video sharing site (Lange, 2008). Cayari (2011) conducted research
revolving around a YouTube musician that was able to solely use this platform to launch his music career
which lead to over a million views on all his videos and hundreds and thousands of subscribers. Through
interviewing the musician, it was found that the major turning point is when he created a cover video for
an even bigger YouTube star, who eventually noticed and shared his video, leading to more views and fans
directed his way. He concluded that YouTube is the ultimate tool for consuming, creating and producing
music; thus it has affected music in a positive way. Cayori’s (2011) study, though interesting, only focused
on one ukulele player, therefore it did not portray whether any independent musician can build a fan
base using this platform. This research will focus on the consumer to learn whether YouTube is a key
tool they use to listen to the music of their favourite Hip Hop artist. Upon learning this, the true influence
of this platform could be discovered.
1.3 Soundcloud
The newest platform out of the previously mentioned Social Media, Soundcloud (www.soundcloud.com)
arose in 2007 and allows users - most of which are musicians - to collaborate, promote and distribute
music (Bogdanov et al, 2011). Literature on this topic is thin as it is an emerging platform, however, via the
official website, it is of interest to mention that they have introduced promoted tracks. This acts as an ad
unit for those that are premier or brand partners (Soundcloud, 2015). Intriguingly, to become a premier
partner, one has to be invited by Soundcloud (Soundcloud, 2015). SoundCloud will be used in the
questionnaire of this study to find out how often the respondents use this tool to listen to their favourite
artists in comparison to other traditional tools such as TV and radio. This would provide a basis for this
new Social Media platform to gain coverage in academic literature, should the results turn out in its
favour.

2.0 Hip Hop Music Industry
As the topic is very peculiar, traditional literature slightly falls short in comparison to other topics. Thus,
to discover the true meaning of “Hip Hop,” a popular online source, TED shall be used. Akala (2011)
dissected the word Hip Hop for his TEDxTalks audience, where he defined “Hip” to be ‘opening one’s eyes
and see’ - which embraces enlightenment and ‘Hop’ to be movement. Thus signifying that ‘Hip Hop’ is
defined as intelligent movement. Duranti (2009) supports this term, but also adds that this genre of music,
or culture, is made up of five elements: MCing, DJing, breakdancing, graffiti art and knowledge.
Understanding this definition is important for the researcher to grasp, as the momentum for artists
becoming more independent could be down to an ‘intelligent movement’ rather than a digital
phenomenon.
Dimitriadis (2009) discovered that in the beginning of Hip Hop music – the mid-70s – its initial practices
were to perform the five elements mentioned by Duranti (2009) within the streets of New York. Therefore
the genre was highly dependent on social contact and interaction. As Social Media such as Twitter
provides direct interaction and social contact, the researcher could find a correlation between the mid-
70s movement and the current independent digital movement.
Hess (2007) discussed an important promotional and marketing tool in Hip Hop, which is the use of
‘mixtapes.’ These are full length projects featuring unreleased music that artists in this genre typically
distribute as an entry into the industry. The author went on to describe this promotional tactic as pivotal
in many artists’ careers, as even established artists distributed mixtapes to remain relevant between the
release of official albums. In the 80s and 90s these were created in the form of physical CDs which artists
sold to get an understanding of the market. However, since the rise of Social Media they are given to
consumers as free downloads, allowing the artist to build a fan base (Gordon, 2013). It would be of interest
for the researcher to uncover whether the sample used in this research expect free official releases from
their favourite artists and whether this affects the major label.
2.1 Cultural Influence
Morrel (2002) presented that schools across California were using Hip Hop to engage with their students
and encourage them to think more critically. He noted that these schools chose this particular genre
because it represents and connects with youth culture a lot more than any other. There was a sense of
loyalty that these students had with these artists which allowed them to engage a lot more in class and
become more willing to learn in an environment which was usually tough for them. It’ll be important for
the researcher to discover whether the research sample considers loyalty as an important factor for

purchasing music from an artist and following their journey. Also, as Morrel (2002) identified that this
genre of music is accepted within youth culture, it would be interesting to learn the age range of
participants in this research design to see if it correlates with this study by portraying a younger
demographic.
Similarly, Hill (2009) used ethnographic detail to understand how young people discover self-identity
through Hip Hop. He mentions how a younger generation can listen to older songs before their time and
still feel a sense of nostalgia and appreciation for how life was for that artist, which in return makes them
feel closer to the artist. Dimitriadis (2009) criticised Hill’s methods, as he states ethnographic work on its
own is too idiosyncratic or too particular to resonate on a broad scale. He stated how an empirical
approach to the research would be best suited, however, even this method may have a limitation in that
as Hip Hop continuously grows, old empirical views may deem irrelevant. These points must be considered
when conducting research.
Language was heavily influenced by Hip Hop culture, as many vernacular terminologies created within this
genre were used and accepted in daily conversations, particularly within the youth; words such as ‘chillin’
and ‘fresh’ (Kelley, 2006). Kelley (2006) conducted a study to find out whether this music could influence
the communication skills of students as perceived by their teachers at selected high schools in Texas. The
results found that the majority of teachers stated that the Hip Hop CD the researcher provided the
students had a very influential impact on their communication skills, which portrays positively on Hip Hop
and its cultural influence.
Noticeably all of these key pieces of literature are quiet dated and focus very heavily on the influence
within the classroom and on the Youth. An element that is missing and something this research will try
to uncover is whether independent Hip Hop artists can launch a career and develop a fan base,
profitably, without the support of a major record label.
3.0 Record Labels
There are 3 major music companies that own major record labels around the world, accounting for over
70% of total music revenue (Busch, 2012). These companies are Universal Music Group (UMG), Sony Music
Group (SMG) and Warner Music Group (WMG). Busch (2012) stated in his Forbes article that record labels
typically withhold a contract with their artists whereby they pay costs such as production, TV, radio and in
return they receive earnings obtained through album and single sales. Masnick (2010) quantified the
record labels earnings to be over 60%, leaving just 40% for the artists and distributors. Since the arrival of
Social Media, artists were able to demand more from labels as they had these online tools to express their

opinions. In response to this, labels decided to take additional profits from merchandise, tours and
sponsorships (“360 deals”), thus still allowing them heavy profit margins (Topping, 2011). When it comes
to promotion, labels typically used both pull and push marketing strategies (Allen, 2012). Figure 1
demonstrates how these strategies are implemented.
Using Fig.1 the researcher is able to understand
how these record labels traditionally promoted
their artists which is essential in relation to
objective 1. The model portrays how a labels push
strategy involves marketing to distribution channels
i.e. wholesalers and retailers. By marketing directly
to these channels, they would be motivated to
promote the labels’ products in order to sell more
units which results in them ordering more. Labels
would typically give these channels monetary
incentives such as advertising and display
allowances to help the distributor push their products to the consumer (Allen et al, 2012). Simultaneously,
the label would conduct a pull strategy whereby they market directly to the consumer to create demand
for their product. Typically, labels used publications, TV and Radio to target their advertising at consumers
and added promotions to these advertisements to influence the consumer to pull the product through the
channels seen in Fig.1 (Allen et al, 2012). Major record labels traditionally implemented both of these
strategies in synergy so that the music their artists are releasing has a demand from both the trade and
consumers, resulting in immediate sales on release of the product (Brassington & Pettitt, 2006). This linear
strategy was criticised by Gerster (1991) who found that retailers could refuse to participate in the offered
trade promotion either on the basis of competitors getting to them first with better promotions, or simply
due to retailer decision. According to Shankar (2009), consumer promotions – pull strategies – most
commonly consist of deep discount deals, store flyers and in-store displays. Shanker (2009) mentioned
that the major downfall of this is when multiple companies have chosen the same retailer for their
consumer and trade promotions, deeming this strategy ineffective. This is particularly true for record
labels where they are not able to play with the price during album and single releases, this traditional
method would prove difficult during seasons where a number of artists of different genres are releasing
at the same time.
Figure 1: Push and Pull Marketing Strategy
(Source: Allen et al, 2012)

The former CEO of EMI Music Group revealed that major record labels will become leaner and more
flexible in order to adapt to the digital age, whilst paying more attention to digital, rather than wholesalers
and retailers as seen in fig.1 (Wadsworth, 2011). Schwartz (2010) has argued how any individual is now
able to create and distribute music independently, either with their own name or, through creating
independent labels to add more authenticity. In the Hip Hop literature reviewed in chapter 2, it can be
understood that this culture is built from the ground up, with individuals creating a community that share
interests. With this understanding of the genre, a correlation with the Social Media definition can be
found, as Social Media also relies on the gathering of individuals, forming a community that share their
common interests and information. Therefore, in the digital age, the push strategies used by record labels
are irrelevant and as Social Media has become more prominent with large audiences, Hip Hop artists have
the opportunity to conduct their own digital push strategy without a label. As there is currently no
updated literature that criticises the relevance of this model, this research will be providing an
opportunity for independent Hip Hop artists to discover if updated strategies involving Social Media
allows them to disregard signing to major labels.
3.1 Independent Labels
During the digital age, independent labels are seeing a rise in popularity within the music industry
(Schwartz, 2010). These labels are generally small-scale and tend to be run privately, whilst undertaking
all activities required to commercially release their artists’ music (Strachan, 2007). Schwartz (2010)
crucially mentioned how independent labels offer an opportunity for artists to make more money as their
overheads are far less than what major labels incur, thus resulting in higher profits distributed more evenly
between the artist and management.
4.0 Conclusion
This literature review has illuminated the fact that even though the emergence of digital and social media
have impacted the music industry to shift their business models, academic literature covering the
influence it has had on Hip Hop artists (and maybe artists in general) to become independent is missing.
This is important as it leads to the question ‘are major record labels relevant in Hip Hop?’ if Social Media
allows artists to have a thriving career independently. It is assumed that to achieve a high number of sales
in this industry, every artist needs a major labels backing and revenue. However, independent Hip Hop
artist, Joey Bada$$, first week debut album sales reveal 54,000 copies were sold (Billboard, 2015). In
comparison, Iggy Azalea, also a Hip Hop artist, but one signed to a major record label sold 52,000 copies
in the first week of her debut album (Billboard, 2014). This evidence further provides reason for the gap
in this literature to be filled.

AMANJIT SINGH SANDHU
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Chapter 3: The Research Method
1.0 Introduction
The purpose of this study is essentially to discover whether major record labels play an important
role in building the career of Hip Hop artists in the USA. This constitutes the researcher taking an
exploratory study approach in order to clarify the problem with Hip Hop artists in the USA signing
to major record labels. The literature review provided valuable ‘multiple-source’ secondary
research which allowed the author to achieve objective 1 without incurring the expense that
would have come with primary research (Saunders et al, 2007). The synthesis of the research
gathered in chapter 2 has importantly enabled the researcher to discover aspects to explore
through primary research. The methodology used to collect primary data will be discussed in this
chapter.
2.0 The Research Philosophy
In the field of research, there are four core philosophical paradigms to aid the author with finding
an answer to whether Hip Hop artists should sign to major record labels. These four core
philosophies can be seen in figure 2: Positivism, Realism, Interpretivism and Pragmatism.
Figure 2: The Research 'Onion'
(Source: ©Mark Saunders, Philip Lewis and Adrian Thornhhill, 2011)

1
1
This research will tie closely to the notion of the positivism. The positivism paradigm stems
from epistemology which represents the concept that researchers must express what
establishes adequate knowledge (Saunders et al, 2009). This position relates to natural
sciences and conveys that only observable phenomena can respectfully aid in producing valid
data (Bryman and Bell, 2011). This philosophy is strongly linked to objectivism as researchers
in this field view objects as a representation of reality, thus they are immune to bias from
personal experience (Saunders et al, 2009).
Positivism correlates with the author’s research design as it suggests that the researcher has
minimal interaction with research participants and that they’re independent from the study
(Collins, 2010). Finally, this position is concerned with primarily collecting quantitative data whilst
also accepting the use of qualitative approaches (Saunders et al, 2012). As the researcher plans
to conduct a predominately quantitative data collection method, it aligns with this philosophy.
Realism is philosophical approach that strongly interlinks with positivism as it shares a few
features such as taking the stance of the natural and social sciences (Bryman and Bell, 2011).
Nonetheless, it holds its own position due to its belief that there is no 'one-way' view and that
the external realities within each individuals mind create structures that have independent views
(Bhaskar, 1989). Although this position was strongly considered by the researcher, it was not
adopted because it typically involves the use of qualitative methods such as case studies and also
attempts to identify individual views - which is not the case in this study (Sobh and Perry, 2005).
3.0 Research Approach
Crowther and Lancaster (2012) recognised that most researchers that embrace the positivist
philosophy usually approach their data using deductive methods. As this research consists on
predominately quantitative data collection, it naturally entails a deductive approach and abides
by Crowther and Lancaster's (2012) statement. A quantitative strategy allows researchers to take
an ontological orientation of objectivism (Bryman and Bell, 2011). This approach requires that
variables should be identified and then a hypothesis should be generated that is proven using the
selected research design (Saunders et al, 2009). In this research, the variables are Hip Hop artists,
Social Media and major record labels; where the researcher is trying to discover whether Social
Media enables Hip Hop artists to sustain a career without major record labels. Using close-ended
questions, the researcher seeks to understand how Hip Hop consumers perceive artists that are

1
2
signed to major record labels compared to ones that are unsigned, whether this changes their
purchasing habits or not will help answer research objective two.
To help achieve research objective 3 the questionnaire also includes a few open-ended,
qualitative questions so that a richer insight could be gathered about how consumers follow Hip
Hop artists. By incorporating a qualitative strategy into the design, an induction approach is
usually used where one observes the empirical world and produces a new theory (Gill and
Johnson, 2010). This approach aligns with the epistemological orientation of interpretivism and
opposes a deduction stance by understanding how humans interpret their social world, rather
than ignoring that factor (Bryman and Bell, 2011). By including qualitative questions, the
researcher is able to go beyond the limitations placed on a simple quantitative approach, whilst
being able to answer the research question with more validity. The addition of qualitative
questions provides more flexibility for data analysis as this approach allows access into deeper
meanings behind a humans experience (Rubin and Babbie, 2009). Had the researcher only used
one of these approaches, the findings may not be as valid (Saunders et al, 2009) as the variables
being researched are complex and ever changing.
4.0 Data gathering techniques
Initially, the researcher had two techniques for data gathering, however one of those – the online
interview – had to be removed due to unforeseen circumstances occurring with the participant.
An online interview was organised with an up and coming USA Hip Hop artist in order for the
researcher to gather much richer, qualitative primary research directly from a representative of
the variable that is the highlight of this study – Hip Hop artists. The online interview would have
consisted mainly of unstructured questions; which Bryman and Bell (2011) state is the less
affective type of interview as it introduces the potential for interview bias due to the difference
in status between the interviewer and the interviewee. Saunders et al (2012) on the other hand,
praises that an in-depth interview (unstructured interview) allows the study to become truly
exploratory as the participant is able to open up and provide greater insight into their perception
of the situation being discussed. This would have allowed the author to discover the opinions of
an unsigned Hip Hop artists and whether he believes signing to a major record label would propel
his career further or not.

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The second technique and one that has been executed by the researcher within the design, is an
internet-mediated self-completed questionnaire. The researcher will use the online survey tool
'Qualtrics' to design and distribute the questionnaire. This tool is useful for researchers as it is
inexpensive and easy to use, with the added ability to formulate questionnaires that include skip
logic; so that certain answers will skip participants to additional questions (Zikmunk and Babin,
2012). Saunders et al (2012), stated that questionnaires are typically used by those conducting
descriptive or explanatory research rather than exploratory. Interestingly, Bryman and Bell (2011)
exposed how this data collection method would be best suited in a multimethod research design,
where in-depth interviews are used in correlation. To counter the statement made my Saunders
et al (2012) and the inability to abide by the suggestion made by Bryman and Bell (2011), the
researcher insured this technique was the most relevant and reliable by having closed-ended
questions mixed with open-ended. This method is best suited to tackle objective two and three,
as they are related to consumer insight and perception. Hair et al (2011) recognised that many
researchers assume the design of questionnaires are easy, but they believe that experienced
researchers who try to design the most reliable questionnaires know this is not true.
In order to design a valid, reliable and effective questionnaire, Stawarski and Phillips (2008:2)
proposed the following steps which are adapted in figure 3.
The researcher used these steps displayed in figure 3 when designing the questionnaire. The
anonymity was provided at the beginning of the questionnaire in the form of text, stating how
Determine
information
needed
Distribute
survey to
target sample
Design
questions
with logic
Test the
questions
Re-design
questions
and logic
Provide
anonymity
Figure 3: Questionnaire Design Steps
Source: Adapted from Stawarski and Phillips (2008:2)

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the data collected will be used. The initial questionnaire was then tested on ten people whom
the researcher deems to be closest in relation to the sample that will be targeted. The test
participants were given three days to complete the questionnaire and provide feedback where
necessary. The pilot test discovered issues with clarity of questions, logic, lack of options in
closed-ended questions and also insight into new open-ended questions which were taken on
board and incorporated in the re-design step of figure 3. The survey was then distributed to
the target sample, allowing them three days to complete it.
5.0 Sampling Strategy
As the researcher decided on conducting a type of survey, it is crucial to identify the sample of
the target population that the survey should be distributed to (Saunders et al, 2012). The view of
Walliman (2010) was found to be appropriate for this research and sampling strategy. Walliman
(2010) suggested that those conducting surveys should firstly identify a sampling frame within
the specified population. The sampling frame is closely related to the researchers study and
should aid in meeting research objectives. From this sampling frame, the researcher then
identifies the specific sample to distribute the questionnaire to (Walliman, 2010). Figure 4 shows
an adaption of Walliman’s (2010:94) sampling framework to suit the authors sampling strategy.
In order to pilot test the questionnaire, the researcher used a purposive sample which is when a
small sample is selected based on the researcher believing they have a similar interest to the
research area (Saunders et al, 2012). This approach was also used when the roll-out of the actual
questionnaire occurred, however, it focused on a large sample rather than a small one which is
usually associated with this approach. As seen in figure 4, the sample selected were users of
Music Consumers
Users of popular Hip Hop
Forums: RapGenius,
Reddit.com/HipHopHeads
and KanyeToThe
Hip Hop Consumers
Figure 4: The Sampling Frame with population and sample
Source: Adapted from Walliman, 2010:94

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specific Hip Hop related forums on the Web; as the opinions of those in this sample are required
to answer the research objectives and consequently the overall aim most efficiently. The
researcher is required to have a larger sample size then what is typically used within this approach
in order to reduce margin for error and allow a deduction of data to be made (Bryman and Bell,
2011). Allowing the sample size to be larger, also counters the limitations placed on purposive
sampling, that they’re prone to bias as samples tend to be too small (Saunders et al, 2012).
6.0 Data Analysis Techniques
The majority of research conducted was on a quantitative basis and in order to interpret and
analyse such data, they are usually converted into tables or diagrams (Saunders et al, 2012).
Adapting the quantitative data into visual aids for easy comparisons and analysis can be done
using the aid of computer software such as Microsoft Excel (Greener, 2008). Due to the fact that
the researcher used the 'Qualtrics' tool, data analysis was aided by the tools' ability to generate
initial reports that include percentages, mean, variance and standard deviation (Zikmund and
Babin, 2012).
The researcher will adopt Bryman and Bell’s (2011) method of frequency tables, where
percentages are used to represent the number of people belonging to each category; which in
this case will be the options provided in the questions. To simplify the data further and make
analysis easier, the researcher will abide by Saunders et al (2012) suggestion of showing the
highest and lowest values to emphasise the disparity between the data collected. This approach
will be slightly adapted to also include the second highest value, so that greater findings can be
made as to the view Hip Hop consumers have when engaging with their favourite artists.
The 'Qualtrics' tool allows users to transfer response data to a statistical computer software, such
as the Microsoft Excel, in one click for further analysis (Miller and Johnson, 2013). As a small
section of the questionnaire came in the form of qualitative data, the researcher quantified this
data using Excel by totalling the frequency in which individual events or reasons had been given
(Saunders et al, 2012). By breaking down this data in quantitative form, analysis can be displayed
using tables and diagrams by using the computer software (Bryman and Bell, 2011). Saunders et
al (2012) state that researchers should not ignore the nature and value of qualitative data by
simplifying them. However, as the researcher used a large sample for the questionnaire, this is
the most efficient way of analysing the qualitative data.

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7.0 Limitations
Due to the nature of the research, being exploratory and in relation to a complex industry, various
limitations can be discovered and are discussed below.
7.1 Time and Resources
Bryman and Bell (2007) identified time and resources as consistent limitations that student
researchers face. The inability to conduct multi-method research was due to the researcher
lacking the time and resources. Using an in-depth online interview to gain greater qualitative
insight as part of a multi-method approach, would have enhanced the findings to answer the
research question. Due to the limited remaining time that the researcher had after the initial
participant was lost, it was difficult to find a replacement. As the researcher only had access to
one artist, an initial precautionary step should have been made to have access to a backup in case
of emergency.
7.2 Generalisability
Generalisability refers to the ability of extending findings to other cases or settings; usually
implying that sample based research findings can apply to the population in which is belongs
(Vogt and Johnson, 2011). The use of an online questionnaire, though the sample and distribution
strategy was chosen, had a small limitation in that the demographic reach was in favour of
reaching those that are younger and classed as ‘digital natives.’ This becomes an issue because
the findings cannot be generalised to an entire Hip Hop consumer sample or population, as this
would consist of an older demographic which was not reached using the online data gathering
strategy.
7.3 Reliability
Collis and Hussey (2013) state that results found through research should remain the same if the
research were repeated in order to prove reliability. Although the researcher used a large sample,
reliability could’ve been tested further by distributing the survey on more forums, rather than
three specific ones. Currently, the findings could be scrutinised as the users of the three chosen
forums may share similar views due to the fact that they are frequent users of the same forum
and knowledge shared on those forums. Thus, if the questionnaire was distributed to a larger
variety of Hip Hop forums, the findings could have been deemed more reliable.

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Chapter 4: Findings and Analysis
1.0 Introduction
This chapter will go on to analyse what the researcher discovered from conducting the
questionnaire and the literature review in order to determine how objectives were met. The
questionnaire was initially piloted on ten individuals which allowed the researcher to discover
issues and make the relevant changes which can be found in appendix 2. The questionnaire was
produced on a survey tool, Qualitrics, and was distributed on various Hip Hop forums, mentioned
in figure 4. Although 516 people started the questionnaire, 393 continued to complete it, thus the
results in this chapter will have varied sample sizes. According to Margione (1995), achieving a
response rate of 85% or more is excellent for this type of research which is what this researcher
achieved. Lastly, the results have been collected by means of highest, second highest and lowest
values in order to respect Saunders et al (2012) method of quantitative data collection. To find
more detailed results, consisting of all options, please refer to appendix 3.
2.0 The Sample
To begin the questionnaire, the design was formulated in a way that the researcher could get an
idea about who the participant is, in terms of age, their association with the genre and how long
they have been a fan.
Initially, when asked the question “do you listen to Hip Hop?” 100% of the respondents said yes. As
seen from the graphs above, the entire sample consists of those aged 16-40, which is
50%
23%
12%
HOW MANY HOURS
DO YOU LISTEN TO
HIP HOP?
3 hours 5 hours 6+ hours
38%31%
4%
HOW LONG HAVE
YOU BEEN A FAN
OF HIP HOP?
2-5 years 6-10 years 20+ years
93%
7%
0
AGE
16-25 26-40 41-60
*505 respondents *471 respondents *489 respondents

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understandable as the millennial generation (‘Digital Natives’) are aged 16-35 (Yatros, 2014). As the
sample within the frame that was selected consisted of online forums, it was expected that this
generation would be the highest respondents (Walliman, 2010). Furthermore, this supports Morrel
(2002) study that states Hip Hop generally attracts a young audience. Of the 96% of respondents
that said they listen to Hip Hop every day, it can be seen in the graph above how many hours they
invest into listening to this genre of music. The fact that 35% of respondents listen up to 5 and 6
hours and that over 30% of them have been fans up to 10 years, assures the researcher that the
opinions of this sample should be credible enough to answer research objectives 2 and 3.
3.0 Into the Mind of Hip Hop Consumers
Objective 2: To determine if Hip Hop consumers have a preference to whether an artist is signed or
independent and if this influences their purchasing decision.
The questions within this section were designed to discover findings for research objective 2, seen
above. As this overall study was exploratory in nature, which requires a lot of time and resource
that the researcher lacks, obtaining consumer insight was the most efficient option to answer the
aim. The researcher asked the participants to have their favourite Hip Hop artists in mind when
answering the remaining questions.
As seen on the graph to the right, 86% of
respondents stated that they don’t care or
don’t want their chosen artist to sign to a
major record label. In relation to objective
2, this concludes that consumers within this
genre have no preference whether an artist
is signed or not. The fact that only 14%
stated they want artists to sign to major
labels should be a concern for these labels.
It questions their relevancy and the need for
them, as Schwartz (2010) stated any
individual is able to create and distribute
music through Social Media channels like SoundCloud. Ultimately, this suggests that Hip Hop artists
are able to become successful whilst remaining independent. Those that stated ‘no’ in the graph
above were asked whether they would still listen to the artist if they signed and 98% said ‘yes.’
Therefore, a greater concern for the major record labels would be whether a consumers purchasing
habits vary depending on the artist’s situation. This is answered below.
62%
24%
14%
SHOULD THEY SIGN TO
MAJOR RECORD LABEL?
Don't care No Yes
*490 respondents

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From the sample, it was found that 39% do not
purchase music from their favourite artist and the
reasons for this are discussed later in this section.
Consequently, the question on the left was
answered by the remaining 236 respondents that
do purchase music using methods that can be
found in appendix 3. This chart indicates an
additional concern for major labels, as over 90%
of the respondents either purchase from both
signed and unsigned artists, or they simply pay for
streaming services where they are able to listen
to any artists’ music. This becomes an issue for major labels when referring to Allen et al (2012)
who found that they invest a large amount of money into push and pull strategies, designed to
encourage a large amount of album and single sales for their artists. But, as respondents in this
survey are clearly ‘pulled’ towards buying from independent artists equally as much as those that
are signed, indicates that the marketing strategies used by major labels are providing a poor return
on investment. Ultimately, this hints that signing to major record labels and giving up over 60% of
their revenue (Masnick, 2010) may not be logical for Hip Hop artists as the consumers purchasing
decision is not influenced by whether they are signed or not.
Remarkably, the push and pull strategies that
major labels use in order to entice consumers
to purchase music, such as: TV and radio ads
(Allen et al., 2012), were scarcely considered
as a factor for purchasing music - as seen in
the graph to the right (see all options in
appendix 3). Instead, it is largely loyalty, to
support new artists, interaction with artists
online and friends suggestions that
encourage consumers to purchase music.
This implies that major record labels may be
wasting a lot of money investing in these
outdated promotion strategies that the
modern consumer of Hip Hop is not reactive to.
71%
20%
3%
A R E Y O U R P U R C H A S I N G H A B I T S
D I F F E R E N T B E T W E E N S I G N E D A N D
I N D E P E N D E N T A R T I S T S
Buy from both Stream only Signed only
*236 respondents
94%
63%
1%
FACTOR FOR PUCHASING
MUSIC
Loyality Support New Artists TV/Radio ad
*231 respondents with 504 responses (multi-answer question)

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To conclude this section, the researcher sought to gain qualitative insight into why 39% of the
sample chose not to purchase music from their chosen artist. The graph below shows the top two
most frequent responses and the less frequent:
As this question was qualitative, allowing room to openly answer, the researcher noticed that a lot
of answers stating financial reasons, justified this with the fact they purchase merchandise and
attend the artists’ shows instead. Topping (2011) addressed how major labels recently began
contracting ‘360 deals’ which allowed them to take revenue from the artists merchandise and tours,
as well as music sales. For the major label, it is a wise move as it allows them to sustain a return on
investment on their artists through a revenue stream that is evidently invested into more by
consumers of this genre. On the other hand, as Hip Hop is defined as ‘intelligent movement’ (Akala,
2011), artists within this genre have realised signing such contracts is not an intelligent move and
remaining independent, they can maintain greater revenues made through merchandise and tours.
Additionally, as Hess (2007) and Gordon (2013) mentioned, it is common within this genre for the
artists to release free full length albums, known as mixtapes, for promotional purposes and to build
a fan base. As a consequence, the second factor noticed above is because consumers of this genre
are accustomed to downloading free music, which could conjure an issue for major record labels.
Essentially, this promotional strategy used by these independent artists is affecting the traditional
major label’s business model, which may be the cause of them attempting to shift towards a leaner
more flexible approach in order to remain relevant (Wadsworth, 2011).
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Financial Reasons Free Official Releases Bad Reviews
WHY DO YOU NOT PURCHASE MUSIC
FROM YOUR CHOSEN ARTIST
*269 respondents

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1
4.0 Hip Hop Consumer Engagement
Objective 3: To discover what tools Hip Hop consumers use to listen to and stay up-to-date with
Hip Hop artists.
Recently, Billboard (2015) statistics revealed that the first week debut album sales of independent
Hip Hop artist Joey Bada$$ were higher than that of Iggy Azalea – a major label hip hop artist
(Billboard, 2014). This sparked interest for the researcher to reveal within this section of questions,
how modern day consumers engage with their favourite artists in terms of what tools they use to
listen to their music and what they use to find out general information, such as when the artist is
touring. Learning this will allow research objective 3 to be met.
How do you listen Never Sometimes
Most
Often
Total
Responses
YouTube 27 314 117 458
TV 384 61 1 446
SoundCloud 42 295 119 456
Radio (incl. Online) 176 197 78 451
The table above portrays the results gathered from respondents expressing which tools they use
the most and least to listen to music from their chosen artist. There is a considerable disparity
between the digital tools (YouTube and SoundCloud), which any individual can upload content onto
and the more traditional tools (TV and Radio), which typically needs the backing of major record
labels to get an artist's music onto. This finding supports Cayori’s (2011) study suggesting YouTube
can be used to develop a career as a musician. Moreover, as Michahelles (2009) discovered in his
drivers that YouTube provides an opportunity to make money, independent Hip Hop artists will be
able to capitalise financially through using this tool that consumers evidently use to listen to music.
Additionally, the fact that SoundCloud, a relatively new tool (Bogdanov et al, 2011), is listed as the
most used indicates that consumers are constantly adapting to using new forms of media. This
answers objective 2 regarding how consumers listen, whilst supporting that artists can be
independent and still have their music reach a large audience.

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Staying up-to-date Never Sometimes
Most
Often
Total
Responses
Social Media 14 116 323 453
TV 369 76 4 449
Radio (incl. Online) 280 136 30 446
Magazines 319 111 14 444
Online Blogs 34 174 248 456
Posters 346 87 15 448
Email Subscriptions 349 84 10 443
In a follow up question to find how the sample stays up-to-date with the artist, a similar pattern
can be recognised. The traditional communication tools many businesses including major labels
have been cited to use, such as: TV, radio, magazines, posters and email subscriptions, have
extremely high responses stating they are never used. As digital media tools such as: Social Media
and Online Blogs were clearly the most often used tools, it allures the thought that major labels are
wasting money investing in traditional tools which their target consumers are not actively using.
Even when referring to data found on how consumers purchase music, 40% of the respondents
indicated through digital methods – distribution and streaming (See appendix 3). Though based on
a relatively small sample compared to the large scale of this industry, the fact that these results
show such a heavy bias towards digital tools should allow generalisations to be made and for major
labels to be concerned about re-evaluating their approach in a way that artists and consumers see
their value.
To provide further detail into answering
objective 3, the researcher sought to find out
exactly which platform was used the most by
the sample. Surprisingly, the ‘other’ option
prevailed as the highest value, with Twitter
closely following. ‘Reddit’ was most
frequently mentioned when asked what the
‘other’ Social Media platform is that
respondents use. As the questionnaire was
distributed on Reddit, the researcher will
disregard this choice as an unfair bias and
consider Twitter instead. Interestingly, Boyd
49%43%
3%
WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA IS
USED
Other Twitter YouTube
*323 respondents

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(2011) found that celebrities obtain large engagement through this platform by regularly posting
‘behind the scenes’ views through pictures. As this tool is not limited for just major labels to use,
independent artists are able to expose a direct to consumer relationship by interacting with fans
which was an important element in the Hip Hop genre (Duranti, 2009). Artists are freely able to
share their SoundCloud music links via Twitter directly to their fans which completely eliminates
the role of the major record label. As almost all respondents are actively using Social Media to stay
up-to-date with the artist, it degrades the use of a major label.
The researcher asked the question found in the following graph to discover how much of an impact
Social Media has made in potentially disrupting the major labels business model. Evidently, this
portrays that Social Media has been extremely influential in the music industry as it has allowed
48% of the sample to discover their favourite artists. This strengthens the view that Hip Hop artists
can build a fan base without major labels. However, as 52% stated they would have discovered their
favourite artist without Social Media, a qualitative question followed up with those respondents to
find out exactly how.
52%
48%
WOULD THE ARTIST BE
FOUND WITHOUT SOCIAL
MEDIA
Yes No
*456 respondents

2
4
In addition to Social Media and specifically Twitter, it can be assumed that ‘word of mouth’ is a
pivotal factor allowing consumers to discover and therefore stay up-to-date with their favourite
artists. This method largely reflects the natural roots and heritage of Hip Hop culture; starting from
performances on one New York Street, to spreading across multiple boroughs through word of
mouth and eventually around the globe (Duranti, 2009). Ultimately, as consumers of the modern
day evidently still discover their favourite artist through this form of communication highlights that
Hip Hop artists can sustain and build a profitable career as it originally began –organic, independent
and interaction with communities.
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Friend (WoM) Blogs/Forums Radio
HOW DID YOU FIND THE ARTIST
*170 respondents

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Chapter 5: Conclusions
1.0 Introduction
The basis of this study was to understand the impact Social Media has had on the music industry.
Focusing on the Hip Hop genre, the researcher aimed to discover whether major record labels are
required to develop an artist’s career and build their fan base. Within this chapter, the theoretical
and managerial implications found in this study will be concluded, along with future research
recommendations and a critical reflection.
2.0 Theoretical Implications
Allen et al (2011) proposed a model that demonstrated strategies record labels have traditionally
used in order to sell their artists’ music. This model is particularly linear as it exhibits a simple push
and pull strategy which entails promoting to wholesalers and retailers to attract consumers, whilst
also promoting to consumers to create demand for the retailer. It was discovered in the findings
that 40% of the sample purchase music through digital outlets, whilst 39% choose unpaid
downloads. As Allen et al (2011) proposed model consisted of physical distribution and traditional
promotion tools including TV and radio, this model may be heavily outdated.
On the other hand, had the model concentrated on digital distributers and pulling consumers
through digital communication, the findings may still deem it a linear, outdated model. The push
and pull model (Allen et al, 2011) wouldn’t work as labels can’t manipulate factors such as: loyalty,
supporting new artists and interaction, which were influential in the samples purchasing decision.
Considering that a major label artist’s first week album sales can fall short of that from an
independent artist (Bloomberg, 2014:2015), suggests they are wasting money investing in this
model. It would be assumed that if this model were effective, the major label artist should have
drastically higher sales. However, this genre appears to defy that assumption as consumers
evidently favour either not paying for music or only buying from artists that they feel loyalty to, or
have interacted with.
3.0 Managerial Implications
A pivotal element of this research was to understand the mind of the Hip Hop consumer and how
they engage with their favourite artists, which were found through objective 2 and 3. Schwartz
(2010) argued that any individual is able to create and distribute music due to technological
advancements and Social Media channels like SoundCloud. Although Busch (2012) presented that

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the top 3 major labels account for over 70% of total market share – thus emphasising their power
– managers at these labels should take into account findings this research presented. Listed below
are the key highlights:
 Only 14% of 490 respondents wanted their favourite artist to sign to a major label
 39% do not purchase music due to financially thinking it is not worth it and paying for shows
is more important, or because of free official music from the artist to download
 Over 82% state they never use traditional media (TV, radio, magazines etc) to listen to or
stay up-to-date with artist information
 100% discovered their favourite artist through Social Media or word of mouth
These findings imply that not only do major labels lack worth in the consumers eyes, but so does
the music itself. Consequently, even if major labels trim their size and become more flexible as
Wadsworth (2011) anticipated, the fact that all consumers use social media to find new artists and
over 90% use it to listen to and follow artists, means that staying independent in this genre is
prudent. It is also more prosperous as artists will not have to give up over 60% of their music,
merchandise and tour revenue (Masnick, 2010: Topping, 2011).
In order to enhance their worth to both consumers and independent artists, a revaluated approach
to marketing in this genre should be made based on these findings. An initial suggestion would be
to bring greater value to purchasing music. In order to do this, major labels could incorporate a gift
token, allowing the consumer to redeem either 1 item of merchandise or 1 free ticket to a show.
Furthermore, similar incentives could be added to this strategy when consumers refer a friend to
purchase the music. As running such strategy, giving up tour revenue, would be costly for
independent artists, they would be more obliged to sign to a label that can financially run such
campaign.
4.0 Future Research Opportunities
Objective 4: To analyse whether being an independent artist is the future for Hip Hop or the
direction the music industry is shifting towards.
The remaining objective was designed to ignite thought for future research. This would allow
further dissection of this study where the focus is on the long-term sustainable career of an
independent Hip Hop artist. Through a much larger Hip Hop survey, and interviews with
independent Hip Hop artists, there is an opportunity to exploit just how far the artist is able to push
independently and if the consumer is willing to support in a long-term journey. As it was discovered

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in this study that Hip Hop consumers’ factor in the support of new artists when purchasing music,
does this mean that they will stop purchasing music from their favourite artists in 10-20 years?
Additionally, there is a greater opportunity to remodel this study whilst focusing on another genre
of music, or every genre to grasp insight from music consumers as a whole. By doing so, findings
will be able to portray whether the music industry is shifting towards an independent route where
major labels are no longer necessary. Should this be the case, it would spark the interest of key
stakeholders within the major labels to make a drastic change in their model in order to remain
relevant and maintain their dominant market share. Ultimately, this would involve an extremely
large sample on a global scale, which would require a lot of time, testing and resource, in order to
make the results more reliable.
5.0 Critical Reflection
Upon conducting this study, the researcher faced some initial challenges. The most impactful was
the loss of an interview participant who was critical for primary research and gaining detailed
qualitative insight into how social media propelled their career to where it was. Upon reflection,
the researcher realises that precautions should have been made at an early stage, where a
replacement participant of a lower calibre was prepared in the event losing a participant. This
would have still allowed the researcher to gain qualitative data from an artist’s perspective which
would have aided in greater findings. Had the researcher prepared in this way, the limitation of
time and resource would not have played a factor in this study.
Additionally, the use of 3 specific Hip Hop forums for the questionnaire distribution may have been
too small and provided room for bias. A bias was evident when collecting qualitative results as
answers given from respondents, such as to the question: what social media do you use to stay up-
to-date with your favourite artist the most, were frequently identifying the forums in which they
came from as their chosen option, i.e. Reddit. Although it may have been true from their
perspective, the researcher should have clarified exactly what was meant by the term ‘Social Media’
in order to prevent the respondents from listing forums as their chosen platform.
On the other hand, the use of online forums was a fantastic decision as it allowed the researcher
to capture over 500 respondents in just 3 days. Using these forums raised the realisation that users
are very active and prominently want to voice their opinion on topics that they find interesting. This
lead to many users providing indirect qualitative insight into the industry, related case studies,
examples of artists abandoning major labels and more. Upon learning this, the researcher realises
that richer primary research in a qualitative manner could have been captured using members of

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these forums as participants. Moreover, there could have been a possibility to pilot test the survey
directly on the forums for a day, as many participants voiced their opinions regarding their
perception of the questions asked in the survey. This would have heightened the quality of the
survey by gaining constructive feedback from the exact sample that will participate in the research.
Lastly, the chosen study was one that is unorthodox in the academic field and rather new in the
field of marketing. Due to this, the researcher would have wished to delve deeper into a more
descriptive approach of study to discover more about the relationship between current rising
independent artists and major record labels that are trying to convince them to sign contracts. By
conducting netnography, an online form of ethnography, the capabilities to find richer qualitative
data regarding these two variables would have opened up. However, due to time constraints, this
was not possible in the conducted research design.
Word Count: 10,326

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Appendices
Appendix 1: Initial questionnaire design for pilot test
*Screenshots taken from Qualtrics

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Appendix 2: Re-design of questionnaire based on feedback
Below you will discover the new questions and options that emerged after conducting the pilot
study. These were incorporated into the whole questionnaire design as seen in Appendix 1 and
then distributed to the sample.
*Screenshots taken from Qualtrics
This introduction was added after feedback from the researcher’s personal tutor and it reassures
the participants that they will remain anonymous, whilst their responses are only used for
academic purposes.

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Based on the pilot test, two of the participants stated that they don’t care for the artists’ situation
and that I should add that as an option.
It was suggested by a pilot test participant that they should have been allowed to freely decide
what social media platform they use. Originally, the researcher chose these three specific
platform to remain consistent with the research and literature review. However, after the
persuasion of the pilot test, an ‘other’ option was added, which leads to a qualitative open-ended
question to discover what platform the participant uses. Discovering additional platforms opens
the possibility for new research.

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An additional open-ended, qualitative question was also added here in order to discover how
participants discovered their chosen artist without Social Media. Although, this was added due to
the results of the pilot test indicating that 70% chose ‘yes’ for question 6.
Lastly, based on feedback from a pilot test participant, they didn’t feel questions 8 & 9 applied to
them as they chose ‘unpaid download’ as their way of purchasing. Therefore, the researcher
added another open-ended qualitative question for those respondents to skip to, in order to
discover why they choose not to purchase from their favourite artists.

3
9
Appendix 3: Visual results from questionnaire
100%
0%
DO YOU LISTEN
TO HIP HOP
Yes No
93%
7%
0 0
AGE
16-25 26-40 41-60 60+
96%
4%
00
HOW OFTEN DO YOU
LISTEN
Every day A few times a week
A few times a month Rarely
15%
50%
23%
12%
HOW MANY HOURS DO
YOU LISTEN?
Up to 1 hour Up to 3 hours
Up to 5 hours 6+ hours
5%
38%
31%
21%
4%
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN
A FAN?
Up to 1 year 2-5 years 6-10 years
11-20 years 20+ years
64%
31%
6%
CHOSEN ARTIST
SITUATION
Signed to Major Signed to Indie Unsigned

4
0
How do you
listen Never Sometimes Most Often Total Responses
YouTube 27 314 117 458
TV 384 61 1 446
SoundCloud 42 295 119 456
Radio (incl.
Online) 176 197 78 451
How do you
stay up-to-date Never Sometimes Most Often Total Responses
Social Media 14 116 323 453
TV 369 76 4 449
Radio (incl.
Online) 280 136 30 446
Magazines 319 111 14 444
Online Blogs 34 174 248 456
Posters 346 87 15 448
62%
24%
14%
SHOULD THEY SIGN TO
MAJOR RECORD LABEL
Don't care No Yes
98%
2%
WOULD YOU STILL LISTEN
TO THEM IF THEY DID
Yes No
49%
43%
5% 3%
WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA
PLATFORM IS USED
Other Twitter SoundCloud YouTube
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Reddit Blogs/Forums Instagram
'OTHER' SOCIAL
MEDIA USED

4
1
52%
48%
WOULD THE ARTIST BE
FOUND WITHOUT SOCIAL
MEDIA
Yes No
39%
21%
21%
19%
HOW DO YOU PURCHASE
MUSIC
Unpaid Download Digital Distributor
Physical Distributor Paid Streaming
71%
20%
6%
3%
PURCHASING HABITS
Buy from both Stream only
Indie only Signed only
80%
10%
6%
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
Friend (WoM) Blogs/Forums Radio
HOW YOU FOUND
THE ARTIST
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
Financial
Reasons
Free Official
Releases
Bad Reviews
WHY YOU DON'T BUY

4
2
Appendix 4: Frequency of qualitative answer from Questionnaire
Chosen artist in mind during questionnaire:
Artist Frequency: Artist Frequency: Artist
Frequency
:
Masta Ace 1 Eminem 14 Talib Kweli 1
Nas 13 Aesop Rock 3 Logic 4
Kanye West 86
Action
Bronson 2 The Roots 2
Big K.R.I.T. 4 Danny Brown 4 J. Cole 10
MF DOOM 3 2pac 1 Schoolboy Q 2
94%
63%
27%
26%
9% 1% 1%
FACTOR FOR PUCHASING MUSIC
Loyality Support New Artists
Interaction with artist online/at shows Friends suggestion
Social Media campaign TV ad
Radio
0%
5%
10%
15%
20%
25%
30%
35%
40%
Kanye West Kendrick Lamar Chance, the rapper
WHO WAS THE CHOSEN
ARTIST
UnsignedSigned to a major
label in 2012
Signed to a major
label in 2004

4
3
Joey Bada$$ 34 Lil Wayne 9 Wu-Tang Clan 1
Akala 1 Jay Z 2
Childish
Gambino 15
Chance the
Rapper 26 Lecrae 1 50 Cent 2
Tyler The
Creator 4 Rakim 1 Black Thought 1
Flatbush
Zombies 6 Common 1 Lupe Fiasco 5
Mac Miller 8 Big sean 1 A$AP Rocky 5
Earl
Sweatshirt 2 Mick Jenkins 8 Drake 29
Kendrick
Lamar 73 Mos Def 3 RunTheJewel 5
Why you didn’t purchase from chosen artist:
Reason Frequency
Financial reasons 193
Prefer to support via tours and merch 28
Artists mainly releases free
albums/mixtapes 32
Music should be free 13
Bad Reviews 3
How did you discover your favourite artist without Social Media:
Method used Frequency
Friend (Word of
Mouth) 135
Youtube 11
Online Blogs/Forums 17
Radio 6
What ‘other’ Social Media platform did you use:
Social Media
used Frequency
Instagram 4
Reddit 107
Facebook 15
RapGenius 12
Blogs/Forumns 20

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