Music, musicians, and information seeking behaviour: A case study on a community concert band

While several studies in the literature have addressed music information seeking behavior from the perspective of hedonic motives, (e.g. entertainment oriented), music information can also be used for utilitarian purposes, by providing amateur musicians the necessary tools to improve their skill and become better in their practice. This paper provides a user study of information seeking behavior targeted at amateur musicians, based on an empirical survey conducted on participants recruited from a community concert band (N=147). The paper builds a framework for music information seeking based on Wilsons’ macro model of information behavior in order to understand information motives and needs, perceived importance of information needs when seeking information, as well as obstacles and barriers in information seeking. Results highlight the utilitarian aspect of music information seeking and contribute empirical evidence in the literature, both from the perspective of designing music information spaces, as well as incorporating them in the music education process.