The ONDCP's Youth Anti-Drug Media Campaign, and other similar campaigns, have been shown to be effective in promoting anti-drug sentiment and, in some cases, reducing drug use. These campaigns rely on radio and television to reach their target adolescent audience. Media research shows, however, that adolescents are spending less time with conventional mass media. As this trend continues, these programs may become increasingly less effective unless new youth oriented media channels are established. Teens spend more time with recorded music than any other media after television. Music is the only medium that has been empirically correlated to adolescent drug use and abuse. The goal of this research is to develop the technology and system to integrate wirelessly updated messages with recorded music (e.g. CD, MP3). This system will tie anti-drug messages to recorded music that is of music style (e.g. Heavy Metal) preferred by adolescents at-risk for drug use and abuse. Preliminary analysis and proof-of-concept prototype point to the viability of this approach. We propose to further study the commercial and technical feasibility and psychological effectiveness of integrating updateable messages with recorded music. We expect that, when commercialized, this system will provide an effective medium for reaching at-risk adolescents with targeted anti-drug PSAs.
