Every time we step out to cool hunt, we discover myth-breaking stuff. As we set out to map the aspirations, dispositions and attitude of the ‘cool folks' (people in the age-bracket of 14-34 years), we discovered how ‘rejection' has become trendy. Then while tracking the eating-out habits of this population segment, we got to see how they were comfortable dining at either end of the price spectrum — a phenomenon we termed as ‘contrasting'.

This time we went cool-hunting for music-listening habits. There were far too many insights to put into one report — so expect more on this.

But, before we share the findings with you — we'd like to share the methodology. To understand their musical preferences, we went out mapping their ‘likes' and ‘dislikes', borrowing these terms from social media for sheer comfort of use. (The excessive use of the ‘like' button on social networking sites has made young people react instantaneously to this question).

We sampled people in four mini-metros to map the music consumption patterns. The results ratified our belief that ‘contrasting' is here to stay. The study is part of a larger exercise we are spearheading for MYFM – a leading FM Station that operates in 17 non-metro markets.

We mapped 224 people in four mini-metros and found that 63 per cent of the total respondents have multiple options rather than just one when it comes to the kind of music they like. This is interesting as one of the options given was film music, and though film music is extremely likely to be played every time these people reach out for their ear plugs — the cool-folks ‘liked' to keep other options open for active music listening.

For music playing in the background while engaged in work we had almost one in every four respondents not wanting to play anything. This was a bit of a surprise. Now here is one-fourth of this cool set of people wanting to focus completely on work. Or is it that they take their music listening so seriously that it warrants their undivided attention?

Among those who preferred music playing in the background — the preferences ‘film music' and ‘anything' were almost neck-to-neck. Another highly ‘liked' option for background playing was ‘ghazal/retro/sufi'. This is yet another superb case endorsing the swings or shifts best described as ‘contrasting'.

A deeper probe into what kind of music is most likely to be played for people ‘liking' multiple options for active listening led to a sudden surge for ‘western' and ‘ghazal/retro/sufi' while film music still ruled the roost. This perhaps explains the popularity of a Kolaveri Di even among folks who swear by the soulful music of Sabri Brothers and swing to Rihanna on the dance floor.

Well, didn't the same set not swing to a Daler Mehendi with equal energy and travel all the way to Bangalore to watch Metallica perform live? These cool folks are swinging on either side of the spectrum for sure. Catering to their aspirations and generating compulsive attractions for these cool types is not going to be simple. They are bound to make modern-day marketers dance to their tunes. Happy cool hunting, folks!

(Giraj Sharma is an independent brand consultant who’s also a compulsive coolhunter)

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