Missing: 24 million music buyers
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New research from NPD Group estimates that in 2009 there were 24 million less US music buyers than in 2007. That’s a 21% drop in numbers, although with the average amount spent by each buyer rising 2%, it implies a 19% drop in total music spending.
However, more worryingly for the industry, NPD’s numbers claim that the number of US people buying music downloads dropped from 35.2 million in 2008 to 34.6 million in 2009 – despite the fact that the number of files shared on P2P networks dropped sharply in the same time period.
Another stat which may partially explain this: NPD claims that free online radio leads to a 41% increase in paid downloads, but free on-demand music leads to a 13% decrease in paid downloads. A stat that may be seized upon by label bosses who are increasingly disillusioned with free on-demand models.
However, it’s worth noting that for some of the companies offering free on-demand music – notably Spotify – it’s as much about stimulating paid subscriptions as individual downloads – an upsell not covered by NPD’s figures, which were announced at the Digital Music East conference.
Tags: NPD Group
February 25th, 2010 at 12:13 pm
[...] 1 votes vote Missing: 24 million music buyers New research from NPD Group estimates that in 2009 there were 24 million less US music buyers [...]
February 25th, 2010 at 1:49 pm
this is just ridiculous. yes people aren’t buying as much music and why? Because more avenues exist to get your music!
10 years ago, you had a physical format like a CD, Radio and napster was just taking off. Now you have itunes (who seem to be doing quite well selling their music, dont know if you noticed…), last.fm, spotify, we7, msafe, pandora to name a few.
It’s just a more competitive market now and there are more avenues to hear content. Same argument on TV viewing figures: when you have 200 channels you’ll get less viewers than when you had 4 (you guys are meant to be clever right?).
Stop panicking music industry folk, rejoice that you gave us more outlets to hear the fruits of your labour!
February 25th, 2010 at 2:15 pm
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February 25th, 2010 at 6:16 pm
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February 26th, 2010 at 2:47 am
[...] rest is here: Music Ally | Blog Archive » Missing: 24 million music buyers Posted in Music, Uncategorized Tags: amount-spent, average, each-buyer, group, million-less, [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 2:22 pm
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Missing: 24 million music buyers [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 2:23 pm
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Missing: 24 million music buyers [...]
February 26th, 2010 at 7:07 pm
[...] New research from NPD Group estimates that in 2009 there were 24 million less US music buyers than in 2007. That’s a 21% drop in numbers, although with the average amount spent by each buyer rising 2%, it implies a 19% drop in total music spending. [via Music Ally] [...]
February 27th, 2010 at 4:14 am
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March 1st, 2010 at 8:18 pm
[...] Music Ally | Blog Archive » Missing: 24 million music buyers [...]