Latest Market Research on Market Expansion

Ines Chen

Two types of users

Audio Creators

Audio creators(artists, bands, podcasters and ordinary people) who provide the content for self-promotion or sharing. (They also act as the audience using the site to interact with others.)

AudienceUsers who listen to the audio files, give comments and share audio files on SoundCloud community or Facebook.

Contents

1. Which vertical should we focus on?

2. How will I test my hypothesis?

3. How can we apply the insights?

Which vertical should we focus on?

The future is already here.It's just not very evenly distributed. - William Gibson

((The new era of radio)) has already arrived.

Why radio?

U.S. online radio market size

In 2013, •Online radio is expected to generate 827 million U.S. dollars in revenue.•67.4 % of the U.S. internet users will have become online radio users by 2016.

In 2012, •46.76 million Americans used such services.•Tuned in 9 hours 46 minutes every week.

Sources: http://www.statista.com/topics/1348/online-radio

Market Share

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253260/leading-online-radio-companies-in-the-us-by-active-sessions/

• 8.5 % of all radio listening time in the U.S. in Feb 2013

• The highest rate of awareness and broadest reach among similar online services in 2012

Mayor Competitor:

Pandora

Source: http://www.statista.com/topics/1349/pandora/

Pandora’s competitive analysis

Strength1. Self tailored music station

supported by its algorithm2. Automated music

recommendation based on collective user feedback

1. Unable to create and share your own playlist

2. No social feature: “follow & discover”

3. Limited social media integration.4. No playlist created by artists and

influencers5. Lukewarm relationship with

music industry and artists6. Service limited in 3 countries

Weakness

Pandora’s weakness SoundCloud’s strength

1. Easily create and share your own playlist 2. Strong social media & social network integration:

follow & discover artists3. Many playlists created by artists and influencers4. Strong relationship with music industry and artists5. Global service

Potential market for SoundCloud

Steal market share by positioning SoundCloud as a social stream music site

Maximize SoundCloud’s advantage: the largest community of creators of music & audio

Complement traditional radio station’s weakness

80/20 RuleReuse existing features to solve “new” problems & add more value

Radio creators’ problems & needs

• Enhance reach and awareness• Get to know their audience

and feedbacks improve the content & target radio ads

Source: http://www.radioworld.com/article/can-soundcloud-help-your-station/218135

• High costs to cover the bandwidth and servers

• No know-how about setting up a radio

Creators: 1. Existing traditional radio stations 2. People who want to set up an online radio station.

Problems Needs

Audience’s problems & needs

Problems Needs

1. Radio services can’t help them search for new music.

2. Online music sites can’t give expert’s opinion on music and provide info about what others are listening to.

3. Annoying ads or paid subscription services

1. Curiosity about the artist’s and band’s information

2. Curiosity about what friends & others think of songs, talks, and radio content

3. Use mobile phones to listen to radio

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/239702/social-engagement-while-listening-to-internet-radio-in-the-us/The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery (http:www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf)

Source: The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery (http:www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf)

Based on TargetSpot Research & my observation…

38-42% of people “discover new music” via online radios

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253409/reasons-for-using-online-radio/ The Role of Digital Audio in the Evolution of Music Discovery: http://www.cdn.targetspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/TargetSpot-Inc_Music- Discovery_WhitePaper_2011.pdf

Reuse existing features to solve radio creators’ problems

Easily create an online radio program anywhere & anytime.

Enhance the interaction between DJs and their audience.

Social media & network integration

Affordable Pro plan with comprehensive analytics

Source: http://www.radioworld.com/article/can-soundcloud-help-your-station/218135

Adding value to existing creatorsAct as a radio station sharing knowledge about music via their music radios or radio shows and expand their audience.

Solve audience’s problems:Radio + MusicSoundCloud app

[2 in 1]: Radio + Music in SoundCloud app

•Convenience: listening to radio, discover, and search for new music at one site•Insights: radio hosts & DJs provide great sharing of music and artists.

People matters. People like to have interactions and a company; time spent on radio program is longer.

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253292/role-of-the-radio-in-the-lives-of-us-consumers-by-age/ http://www.statista.com/statistics/252204/weekly-time-spent-listening-to- the-radio-in-the-us-by-age-and-gender/

Listening to radio is a habitual behavior. Increasing user engagement & connection

Hypothesis

Having the online radio vertical, which enables people listen to radio, discover, and search for music at one site, would be popular between radio creators and their audience.

Design the research & Test the hypothesis Get out of the building!

Three ways to test the hypothesis

Macro level:– Online survey– Focus group interview

Micro level– Interview with a wireframe demo

Regarding the research plan to choose, it depends on the budget and timeline.

Five aspects of online survey questions

1. Demographic information 2. User’s existing behaviors and approaches toward

using online radio3. Needs and reasons for using online radio4. User’s opinion toward our competitor’s sites5. Factors that influence their decision toward using

online radio service.

Gain insights from the focus group interview

1. Identify patterns

1. Identify the user types

2. Address their specific pain points

3. Explore the possible improvement and solutions

_______ ________ ______ ____ ________ ____________ Problem Emotions Process Role Contexts Practical Needs

Interview with a wireframe demo

1. Test the understanding of the problem 2. Get customer feedbacks3. Test the understanding of the solutions 4. Test whether the solution really solves the core

problem of customers5. Learn the minimum viable features from the initial

stage

Micro Level

Conclusion from the research

To answer the five key questions:

Who is our target user? What do they care about?

When and where will they use our product?

What features will differentiate our product?

ProductTeam

Discovery feature

Radio waveform inserted each song for users to discover and search for new music

Develop radio

widgets

Develop easily-used widgets by the engineering team or third-party

Tag feature DJ’s & host’s names, language, and mood.Local

feature Tune Facebook info to identify user’s place to provide local radio recommendation

New category Radio category various subcategories

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/253292/role-of-the-radio-in-the-lives-of-us-consumers-by-age/

Turn the insights into action

MarketingTeam

Social media & blog sharing and promotion Connect with the radio community Build up a radio community, e.g. the global radio DJs/ hosts meetup day and meet your local DJs/hosts

Press release for promoting radio features to new usersCommunity

Team SouncCloud 101 for radio stations Event:radio hackathon

PartnershipTeam

Cooperate with global & regional radio companies. Others: car integration

ContentTeam

Put radio features at the homepage

Source: http://www.statista.com/statistics/245275/weekday-and-weekend-radio-use-in-the-us-by-location/

Turn the insights into action

What kind of impact we have on our users?

From my campus radio to BBC, from any radio to songs it plays,

the distance is within“one or two clicks”.

Q&A