Music Roles Affect the Selection of Consumption Means: A Questionnaire Survey of People’s Expectations for Music and Exploratory Factor Analysis

People listen to music for various purposes, and the roles that listeners expect from music can vary from person to person. In recent years, “subscription-based streaming services” (hereinafter referred to as “subscription”) have increased their share in the music market, thereby changing the way people listen to music. Though, the impact of this change on the role of music, is yet to be explored. This study analyzed survey data to reveal the relationship between the expected roles of music and the choice of music consumption means, including subscription. In particular, we obtained that a factor in the use of subscription is the expectation of constructing a personal identity. We also found that both purchase and live usage are affected by two factors: the expectation of fan identity construction and the expectation of artist contribution. This indicates that subscription is not an alternative to the existing means, but a new kind of consumption means in the music market. It was also found that subscription facilitates the construction of personal identity through music. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12626-022-00115-x.