(via Ars Technica)
A recent study by the marketing research company Ipsos Insight shows that more than 70% of all music on portable music players is acquired through legal means, and that the percentage of legal music is growing. Nearly half the music on players is ripped from the users’ own collections, and roughly one-quarter is from legal pay-to-download services. So despite claims from Microsoft that most people steal music, it appears that most music is legally acquired.
A new study by global market research firm Ipsos indicates that as many as one in five Americans over the age of 12 now own portable MP3 Players and one in 20 own more than one. And interest in viewing music videos, photos, TV shows and even full-length movies from these devices is especially strong among younger consumers who have experience downloading music.
. . .
Nearly half of music downloaders own a portable MP3 player (48%), and these owners use their devices an average of 12 hours per week. Younger downloaders use their MP3 Players more often (average of over 16 hours per week among teens), but have less digital content stored on their devices. Overall, there is an average of 700 songs or files stored on a U.S. music downloader’s MP3 player.
Existing CD collections continue to be the primary source of MP3 Player content among music downloaders. Nearly half (44%) of the content stored on MP3 players is ripped from the owner’s personal CD collection, and another 6% is ripped from others’ CD collections. Fee-based downloads (25%) and files obtained from file sharing services (19%) are also common sources of content.
So things aren’t quite as bad as the recording industry would have you believe. I’m guessing the poor sales recently have more to do with most music sucking rather than with everyone on the planet stealing. But that’s just my cynical view of life.
[tags]Portable music players, Music downloads, Music fans aren’t pirates[/tags]