Yesterday (June 30), our very own Karen Civil hosted an important Twitter chat deemed #BlackMusicTBT about music and how specifically African Americans are consuming it, as part of Nielsen’s Nielsen Knows Conscious Consumer Campaign. The month of June was Black Music Month, so for these 30 days, Nielsen focused on just that.

The 1-hour Twitter discussion made one thing abundantly clear — folks mainly get their new music from the Internet. We found that the majority of the participants learn about new music from social media and blogs, rather then the radio. This shows the value of trying to gain Twitter followers for upcoming musicians as it could potentially help more people discover their music.

Ironically enough, Nielsen reports that 91% of blacks listen to the radio weekly, differing from our Twitter chat results. Another interesting finding was the lack of participants who pay for streaming services such as Spotify, Pandora, etc. Most of the respondents said that there are still plenty of free options out there to get new music from, so paying for a streaming service seems unnecessary. Maybe with TIDAL and Apple Music gaining traction, that’ll change in the near future.

Nonetheless, the #BlackMusicTBT Twitter chat via Karen Civil and Nielsen was a success. In general, people are excited about music and are excited about seeking different ways to absorb it. But, as we’ve already said, the Internet is the place to be when it comes to finding new music to listen to.

At the end, Nielsen gave out 6 great prizes to 6 lucky winners. The prizes included a 3-month subscription to Spotify Premium and a 1-year subscription to Pandora One. It was a great success!

Check out some takeaways from the discussion on the following page. Where do you fall in the #BlackMusic conversation?