A new study from marketing research company Ipsos Insight indicates that while file sharing may be down, it still constitutes a significant percentage of the music found on today’s portable digital music players. Yet music downloads from legal services have eclipsed those stemming from P2P and other unauthorized sources. In fact, the study indicated that more than 70 percent of such music stems from legal sources, and that music download services are on the rise. The numbers show how far the industry has come from the days when CEOs would argue that “the most common format of music on an iPod is ’stolen’.” If that view was dubious before, it’s now outright ridiculous.
According to the study of more than 1,100 people, existing CD collections still provide the lion’s share of music on portable players, accounting for 44 percent of such content. Download-to-own sales accounted for 25 percent of music on portable devices, while unauthorized file sharing accounted for 19 percent. While the music industry may be pleased, the study also indicated that 6 percent of music stemmed from users “ripping” CDs owned by others—something the industry considers akin to raw piracy. With an average of 700 songs per player according to the study, approximately 175 songs per player have not been properly licensed or purchased in the eyes of the recording industry. (Of course, that number would be significantly higher if the RIAA’s views on ripping legally acquired CDs were ever enforced.)
Portable music players are quite popular, too. The study indicates that one in five people over the age of 12 have a portable music player, and one in twenty actually have more than one. The study suggests that the percentage of portable player ownership is increasing at a rate of roughly five percent a year, as 2003 and 2004 saw 11 and 15 percent penetration, respectively.
The strong sales are good news for the music industry, which has seen aggressive growth in digital sales in recent years. Sales tripled in 2005 according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), climbing up to represent 6 percent of global music receipts that year. And while younger people generally dominate the uptake of new electronics, persons aged 35 to 54 are getting in on the action as well, with one in ten sporting a portable music player last year.
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