Interesting Country Music Survey

A recent study funded by the Country Music Association and covered by The Tennessean uncovered some interesting facts that corroborate some of the findings from an earlier posting about country music:

• About 2 in 5 Americans ages 18 to 54 consider themselves country music fans.

• About 5% of American adults consider themselves "countryphiles," or exceptionally passionate fans of the genre.

• They're predominantly Caucasian, more female than male, and are evenly distributed across all age groups and income levels.

• They feel that country music represents their value system.

• They hate it when an artist like John Mellencamp dabbles in the music but doesn't stay there long. They're happy to embrace a new artist in the country genre though.

• And most surprising, 50% of country music fans DO NOT have home Internet access.

This accounts for why digital downloads are so low in the space, but it also provides a pretty good overview of the audience. One can only hope that the music business in Nashville reads this carefully and takes action accordingly to accommodate those fans.