ON AIR
metal + hardcore
pop punk + alt-rock
indie spins
 

News

Music Sales Drop 2% Q3 Despite Digital Growth

Overall demand for music among U.S. internet users fell 2% in Q3 of 2008 according to a new NPD survey which included purchased CDs and downloads, P2P sites, and borrowing music to rip. It’s not clear if the numbers are just a blip or within some margin or error, but they certainly can’t be spun as good news for a beleagured music industry. Growth in track sales and the number of new downloaders did, however, offer a ray of hope along with music discovery via video games.

The proportion of U.S. Internet users, age 13 and older, purchasing a CD in the prior month fell from 25%   in Q3 ’07 to 22% this year and the overall volume of CDs purchased declined by 19% compared to last year. Teen   CD purchases dropped 34% (so much for the Hannah Montana effect) and among adults age 26 to 35   sales were down 36%. CD purchases by adults 36 and older declined ony 10%.

Paid digital downloads experienced growth…

in the number of buyers and the volume of tracks sold in Q3. 15% of internet users purchased music online which is an increase of 2% over last year or 2.8 million additional music-download customers. Legal music download volumes increased by 29% in Q3 with positive numbers seen for all age groups except the 50-and-older segment, which represents a small portion of buyers.

The number of Internet users sharing music on peer-to-peer sites held steady at 14% in Q3 2008; but the volume of music shared rose by 23%, as P2P users reported downloading more files. Teens purchased 34% more paid digital downloads compared with year-ago, however growth in P2P file downloading among 13- to 17-year-olds was up 46%. NPD noted that the practice of sharing files for the purpose of burning to a CD fell 25% among teens, which suggests an increased preference for having the files in a digital-only format.

Video gaming also appears to have positive effects for the music industry. 22% of music buyers (CDs, digital or mobile) overall – and 35% of consumers under the age of 35 – reported playing a music-based video game, such as Rock Band or Guitar Hero, in the prior three months. Many of these music gamers reported that the gaming experience had a positive outcome, such as creating music discovery or triggering a digital-music or CD purchase.

 
COOKIE NOTICE
We utilize cookie technology to collect data regarding the number of visits a person has made to our site. This data is stored in aggregate form and is in no way singled out in an individual file. This information allows us to know what pages/sites are of interest to our users and what pages/sites may be of less interest. See more