Research: Why are music sales falling? DOWNLOADING (ahem)
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By Jon Newton 6/20/03
Anti-piracy campaigns waged by the RIAA and the labels are starting to
change the hearts and minds of consumers when it comes to file-sharing,
says a new music industry inspired report.
Jayne
Charneski, vp of Edison Media Research whose national
survey of 12 to 44 year olds conducted for the trade pub Radio
& Records' R&R Convention 2003 (scheduled for
next week) states:
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"While
there are a variety of reasons contributing to the downturn in music sales,
the twin problems of Downloading and Burning are clearly the most potent ones.
The data suggest that in particular it is the heaviest downloaders who have
having the most negative influence on sales."
By
an amazing coincidence, her company's report comes on the heels of others which
seriously question music industry statements that suggest dl-ing actually helps,
rather than hurts, sales.
"While
some people do indeed say that they have learned about music and gone on to
buy CD's because of downloading, the gains are more
than negated by lost sales due to people downloading music or burning (making
digital copies of CDs), says Edison, going on:
- Among
the heaviest downloaders, those who have downloaded more than 100 music files
(about 16% of 12-44s), reported purchases of CD's
has dropped an incredible 61% from last year's study (28.9 on average per
person to 11.3).
- 71%
of heavy downloaders say that “Instead of buying a CD they have burnt
someone else’s copy of a CD,” and 48% of them say “They no
longer have to buy CD's because they could download
music for free over the Internet.”
- More
teens than ever are burning instead of buying – 61% of 12-17-year-olds
have burned someone else’s copy of a CD instead of buying their own copy,
a 13% increase in one year.
Not
all of the results bode poorly for the record industry, however. Some of interesting
attitudinal trends to emerge from this study include:
- 14%
of those who download told us they won't download music for free because they
feel artists and record labels should be compensated. This is a tremendous
increase from 2002 when only 5% of downloaders felt this way.
- The
number of Americans who believe downloading music files for free from the
Internet is “morally wrong” has increased 28% in one year.
As of May 2003, some 50% of Americans between the ages of 12 and 44 believe
downloading music for free from the Internet is morally wrong, up from just
39% in 2002.
"I
think we are seeing some evidence that the There is a growing group of consumers
who want to pay for their downloads," says Charneski unblushingly.
Other
findings include:
- 12
to 24s buy into the media's 'bling bling' portrayal of the music industry.
Half believe that all recording artists and record label employees
are rich, live in big houses, and drive expensive cars! [Gosh! Why
on earth would they think that? - ed]
- 12
to 17s: the Hip-Hop Generation. When asked on an unaided basis to name
their favorite musical artists of all time, three Hip-Hop artists occupied
the top slots - #1 Tupac, #2 Eminem, #3 50 Cent.
- Led
Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' ranks as the top favorite song among 12 to
44s. Garth Brook's 'The Dance' holds the #2 spot.
- Videogames
sell music - 8% of 12 to 17s and 10% of 18 to 24s said hearing a song featured
in a videogame was influential in purchasing the last music CD they bought
for themselves.
- Consumers
in the demos the record industry traditionally relies on for the bulk of new
music sales (12 to 24s) still believe the industry is producing quality product
and the vast majority (74%) are as passionate about music these days as they
used to be.
- 36%
of persons 18+ believe there is more programming variety on local radio stations
today compared to 5 years ago. Another 46% believe there is the same amount
of variety on local radio today compared to 5 years ago.
- 33%
of downloaders said they would disable their file sharing software if they
received a pop-up message warning they are at risk for legal penalties for
downloading music from file-sharing services.
Surveyors
interviewed 1003 people aged 12+ by telephone from a national sample (continental
US) between May 8 and May 18, 2003.
Comments
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Jon Newton is the editor of p2pnet.net
and is a regular contributer to MP3 Newswire. Jon's site is devoted to the politics
of digital music and his insights as well as those of his co-writers can be
read there. We urge you to explore it.
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