UPDATE - 9/17@8:24AM: Here's another article (thanks RushFanForever) on the study from the McMaster Daily News.

Anthem's (Rush's management company) Andy Curran, Peggy Cecconi and Meghan Symsyk recently made a trip to Hamilton's McMaster University to see a presentation by students Jotthi Bansal and James Renwick focusing on profile data of Rush's fanbase gathered via a global music download archive on campus. From the Hamilton Spectator (thanks Enviro_tech):

... "I thought I would be wowed, which is why I came to Hamilton. But I didn't think it would be so beautifully laid out and presented," said Pegi Cecconi, vice-president of Anthem Entertainment Group / SRO Management.

Especially interesting to the delegation was the finding that Rush fans have a unique profile and tend to also be big fans of classical, jazz and Latin (the music, not the language).

The students were hoping a member of the band would show up with Cecconi and the other two visitors, Andy Curran (director of artists and repertoire) and Meghan Symsyk (SRO Management Inc.). But it wasn't to be. Too busy doing rock star stuff. ...

Some other findings from the study showed that Rush fans show a preference for songs from the '60s, '70s, and '80s, rather than more recent releases and that Rush was the most popular progressive rock band when it came to live recordings. For all the details check out the Hamilton Spectator article here.

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