In 2005 8% of American Internet users paid for digital music, in 2006 – 23%

As digital music players grow in popularity, so do the number of Americans who download music from the Internet, Solutions Research Group says. Nearly half of all American Internet users (45%) downloaded music at some point in the past from pay sites or p2p sources, up from 31% only a year ago.

Number of Americans who paid for a song download also increased significantly due to the digital music player boom. In 2005, only 8% of Internet users paid for digital music online at some point. In 2006, this was up significantly to 23% (translating to an estimated 39 mln people 12+).

Consistent with above-average growth in their use of digital music players, three times as many female Internet users are now regular paid downloaders of music (14% of women Internet users paid for a song online in the past month in 2006 versus only 4% in 2005).

Related

1. IPR Police Uncover 2nd Major P2P Internet Infringement Case in 2006
2. Music distribution to thrive, peaking in 2005
3. RealNetworks to revolutionize Digital Music on the Internet on May 26
4. STUDY: Mac Users More Likely to Pay for Music than PC Users
5. New Digital Tv Signals due for 2006