Study on online music piracy and purchasing habits 13 November 2009 the There has been high-profile debate in the media about whether file-sharing has a positive or negative impact on music sales. The study below, which is original text from Jupiter Research, analyses in more detail the different spend of file-sharers, digital and physical music purchasers. Analysis Of The European Online Music Market Development And Assessment of Future Opportunities Music Sharers Are Less Likely To Buy Music
Because CDC still dominate music buying behavior, music buyers are far more Likely to buy CDC than they are any form of digital music product. Converting these physical-format buyers into digital buyers rather than Just losing them as paying customers will be key. The majority of music sharers do not buy music, and they are nearly half as likely as music buyers to buy CDC In a high-street shop or from an online store. Indeed, the majority of music sharers are “freeloaders” who show little willingness or ability to pay for music.
These will be key targets for ad-supported free USIA services and subsidized “feels like free” offerings. However, a third of digital music buyers also share music files, twice the rate for all Internet users. Because of this factor, music sharers are more likely to buy digital music than Internet users. Although it is possible that file-sharing functions as some sort of discovery tool for those digital music buyers that also file-share, it is reasonable to assume that their spend would be higher If they were not file-sharing.