Number Of Paying Downloaders Doubles In First Half Of 2003.

American downloaders are embracing fee-based digital music acquisition and owning portable audio devices in growing numbers, while litigation surrounding individual peer-to-peer filesharing continues to captivate the media and music industry, according to recently released research from global marketing research firm Ipsos-Insight.

Paid Downloading Grows, With Equal Experimentation Across Ages

New findings from TEMPO, the company’s quarterly study of digital music behaviors, reveal that in late June of 2003, as the Recording Industry Association of America’s (RIAA) announced their intention to begin prosecuting individual file-sharers, roughly one out of six (16%) American downloaders aged 12 and older had paid a fee to download music or MP3 files off of the Internet. This translates into roughly 10 million people within the current U.S. population (according to 2000 U.S. Census figures).

“A twofold increase in the number of American downloaders exposed to for-pay music downloads in just a six month timeframe (compared 8% in December 2002 and 13% in April 2003) signals a remarkable shift in downloader behavior,” said Matt Kleinschmit, Director for Ipsos-Insight, and author of the TEMPO research.

Demographically, young adults aged 18 to 24 are most likely to have paid to download digital music (22%). However, older downloaders are also experimenting with fee-based digital music acquisition, as 19% of downloaders between the ages of 25 and 54 reported to have also paid to download a music or MP3 file. Interestingly, downloaders aged 12 to 17 were the least likely to say they have paid for digital music.

“Downloaders of all ages are clearly beginning to experiment with fee-based online music distribution in increasing numbers,” said Kleinschmit, “This is significant in that these data were collected in late June, prior to the recent release of multiple Windows–based online music services. It will be interesting to see how these refined fee-based online music services impact this figure in futures waves of TEMPO, and whether downloaders’ dependence on peer-to-peer filesharing decreases accordingly.”

MP3 Player Ownership Also Up

In addition to increased fee-based digital music acquisition, Ipsos-Insight also found that nearly one-fifth (19%) of U.S. downloaders own a Portable Digital Audio Player/ Portable MP3 Player, up from just 12% in December of 2002. “The rise in Portable MP3 Player ownership among U.S. downloaders, coupled with the growth in paid downloading, suggests that digital music enthusiasts may be shifting their overall music acquisition and listening behaviors from a physical to a digital approach,” added Kleinschmit. “This should be positive sign for associated industries, in that legitimate market opportunities are increasingly prevalent in the world of digital music, even alongside unauthorized peer-to-peer filesharing.”

For more information at http://www.ipsos-insight.com