They're listening

In my inbox this morning, from EMI Classics:

We're Listening!

The BPI (British Phonographic Industry) is conducting a consumer survey on behalf of UK classical recorded music companies which will help us understand more about our customers and classical music lovers in general.

The survey should take you no longer than 10 minutes to complete and you can enter a competition to win an iPod Touch.

[After a few preliminary personal questions such as age we get to the meaty stuff]

5. How often do you buy classical recordings on either CD or download?
Usually 5 times a month or more
Usually 3 or 4 times a month
Usually 1 or 2 times a month
A few times a year
Once or twice a year
Never

6. When buying classical recordings, which of the following factors do you consider the MOST important
Record label
Artwork
Artist(s)/performers
Price
Repertoire
Other (please specify)

7. Which retailers do you buy classical music from?
(Please tick all that apply)
Specialist independent music shops
HMV
Online CD store (Amazon, Play, MDT, Presto etc)
Digital download store (iTunes, eMusic, Amazon MP3 etc)
eBay
Amazon Marketplace
Supermarkets
CDs from record label websites
Downloads from record label websites
Other (please specify)

8. In the past year have you bought classical music as a gift for someone else on any of these occasions?
(Please tick all that apply)
Mother's Day
Father's Day
Christmas
None
Valentine's Day
Birthday
Wedding Anniversary
Other Religious Festivals
Other (please specify)

9. How do you buy your classical music?
Digital downloads only
CDs only
CDs and digital downloads

10. What proportion of your classical music spending is accounted for by digital downloads?
0-25%
26-50%
51-75%
76-99%

11. Which digital download stores do you buy classical music from?
(Please tick all that apply)
iTunes
Amazon MP3
Play.com
HMV Digital
Record label sites
Passionato
Napster
TheClassicalShop.net
eMusic
Other (please specify)

12. Please look at these statements about digital music and tell us how strongly you agree or disagree with each
Digital downloads are convenient to buy
Digital downloads are good value for money
I like to create my own playlists
I buy fewer classical compilation albums since I started downloading music
I would like to get better digital artwork and sleevenotes when buying downloads
The sound quality of recordings is important to me
The sound quality of downloads are usually very good

13. Have you ever downloaded an album in a 'high quality' digital format such as FLAC or AIFF?
Yes
No
Don't know

14. Please look at these statements about high quality digital formats and say whether you agree or disagree
I always try to buy downloads on 'high quality' formats
The sound quality is noticably better than other downloads
I wish high quality formats were available for all classical music
I am more likely to buy a high-quality format for classical music than I am for other types of music
It is worth spending a bit more money for 'high quality' formats

15. Which radio stations do you listen to? (tick all that apply)

16. Do you use any of the following social networking sites?

17. Please tell us which of these devices you own, or have access to in your household (please tick all that apply)
[iPhones, iPads, HDTV, that sort of thing]

18. Please indicate which, if any of the following online services you use to listen to classical music (please tick all that apply)
Last FM
Naxos Music Library
Spotify
Napster
we7
YouTube
Vevo
None of these
Other (please specify)

19. You say that you use streaming services to listen to classical music. [No I didn't, I said I used YouTube] Please take a look at these statements and let us know how strongly you agree or disagree with each one.
I think the selection of classical music on streaming services is good
I often find it difficult to find the classical music I want to listen to on streaming services
Streaming services help me to discover new classical artists and recordings I am unfamiliar with
Using streaming services means I don’t spend as much money on classical recordings as I used to
If there was a streaming service that specialised in classical music, I would be interested in paying a monthly subscription fee to use it

20. Do you listen to music on your mobile phone through apps or services such as Spotify?

21. On average, how many classical music concerts do you attend per year (including ballet and opera)?
None
1-4
5-9
10-15
16-19
20-29
30+

22. Do you ever buy CDs of the performing artist or the music performed when attending classical concerts?
Yes, I often buy CDs when at classical music concerts
Yes, I occasionally buy CDs when at classical music concerts
I have only bought CDs at classical music concerts on one or two occasions
No, I choose not to buy CDs when at a classical music concert
No, but I would be interested if they were available

23. In the past year, have you attended any of the following?
(Please tick all that apply)
An outdoor concert of classical music
An opera screened at a cinema
A school concert of classical music
Glyndebourne
BBC Proms at the Royal Albert Hall
Glastonbury festival
Any other non-classical music festival (eg Reading, V, Latitude, Cambridge Folk Festival)
None of these

24. Which of these television programmes have you watched in the last 12 months? (Please tick all that apply)
Classic BRITs
Popstar to Operastar
New Years Day Concert From Vienna
Classical music TV programmes on BBC 3
The Culture Show
BBC Proms
BBC Cardiff Singer of the Year
Classical music on Sky Arts
None of them

25. Would you like to see more classical music programmes on TV?

26. What sort of classical music programmes would you like to see more of?
Please tick all that apply
Concerts and recitals
Ballet
Opera
Documentaries / interviews
Review programmes
Broad based arts programmes
Other (please specify)

27. What type of classical music do you prefer to listen to most?
Choral
Opera
Chamber
Orchestral
Vocal
Contemporary
Piano
Popular/crossover
Early
Other (please specify)

28. Which period of music is your favourite
Baroque (examples of composers include Bach, Vivaldi, Telemann, Purcell)
Classical (examples of composers include Mozart, Beethoven, Haydn)
Romantic (examples of composers include Tchaikovsky, Brahms, Rachmaninov, Bruch)
Contemporary (examples of composers include John Cage, Philip Glass, Stravinsky, Walton)
Don't know

29. Which other types of music do you listen to?
Which other types of music do you listen to?
Alternative
Rock
Easy Listening
Reggae
Blues
Country/folk
Electronic
Rap
Jazz
Soul/R&B
Rock/Pop
Soundtracks
World
None - I just listen to Classical music

30. Which of these publications, websites and radio shows do you find useful in finding out about classical music releases?
(Please tick all that apply)
BBC Music Magazine
BBC Music website
BBC Radio 3 CD Review programme
BBC Radio 3 In Tune Classical Chart programme
Broadsheet newspapers
Classic FM Chart show
Classic FM magazine
Classic FM website
Classic FM's New CD Show
From online retailer websites
Gramophone Magazine
Gramophone website
Review websites
Other (please specify)

31. .....and which of these publications, websites and radio shows do you find the MOST USEFUL of all in finding out about classical music releases?
(Please tick only one)
[Same list as above]

32. Please tell us who your favourite classical composer is
Bach, C P E
Bach, J S
Barber
Bartók
Bax
Beethoven
Berlioz
Bizet
Brahms
Britten
Bruch
Bruckner
Byrd
Chopin
Debussy
Dvorak
Elgar
Fauré
Franck, C
Gershwin
Grieg
Handel
Haydn
Howells
Janacek
Liszt
Mahler
Mendelssohn
Monteverdi
Mozart
Palestrina
Prokofiev
Puccini
Purcell
Rachmaninov
Ravel
Rimsky Korsakov
Rossini
Saint-Saëns
Schubert
Schumann
Shostakovich
Sibelius
Strauss, J, II
Strauss, R
Stravinsky
Tallis
Tchaikovsky
Telemann
Vaughan Williams
Verdi
Vivaldi
Wagner
Walton
Other (please specify)

And that's it. Staggeringly, on those questions where they provided the option "Other (please specify)", they didn't provide a button to tick, so if your preferred answer was a write-in one, you first had to choose a "wrong" answer". How stupid is that? I berated them in one of the "please specify" boxes.
What of the questions themselves? The technology- and purchasing-related questions are sensible enough, and no doubt will be used to justify some future decisions. Given that they don't know how to properly design a survey, can we be hopeful that they understand that participant recruitment via email produces an inherent bias in any of the questions that relate to the web?
Leaving aside the "Other (please specify)" snafu, questions 27 and 28 are pretty stupid (are you allowed call it "borderline retarded"?). Undoubtedly there are people who prefer opera above all else, but could the survey designers not countenance the possibility that I might like two or more genres equally? If I say I prefer Chamber music, what does this say about my interest in Piano music? Yes, I know the British are "first past the post" people, but still. And why give Early music as an option of the kind of music you prefer, but omit it from the list of musical periods you prefer? And you've got to love that catch-all "Contemporary", haven't you? Of the, erm, highly disparate Cage, Stravinsky, Glass and Walton, Glass is the only one who's been alive for the last 19 years.
Will the BPI learn anything useful from this survey, ultimately? It would be nice to think that a large majority of respondents will disagree with the statement "Digital downloads are good value for money" and that the industry will act accordingly. It would be even better if a large majority of respondents chose Telemann as their favourite composer. Think of the implications!