Suggests shift in how teens listen to music, streaming more music online and listening to satellite radio.
According to a recent survey by The NPD Group, a market research company, teens (13-17yo) acquired 19% less music, both legally and illegally, in 2008 than they did in 2007.
As for legal acquisitions, CD purchases declined by 26% and digital downloads fell 13% compared with the year before.
In the case of paid digital downloads, 32% of those teens who purchased less cited “discontent with the music that was available,” and 23% of them said they “already have a suitable collection” of digital music. The survey also says that 24% bought less simply because they were cutting back on overall entertainment spending.
When it comes to using P2P networks or services to download music illegally, the number of music tracks acquired by teens is down 6%.
The number of teens borrowing music, either to rip to a PC or to burn a copy, fell by 28%.
”While we expected to see the continued decline in CD purchasing among teens in NPD’s music tracking surveys, it was surprising to see that fewer teens downloaded music from P2P sites or borrowed them from friends,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. “These declines could be happening due to a lack of excitement among teens about the music available, but it could also reflect a larger shift in the ways teens interact with music, given that so much music is now available whenever and wherever they want it.”
NPD notes that one of teh reasons for the decline in music acquisitons by teens, both legally and illegally, is due to changes in the way they listen to music. Some 52% listened to online radio in 2008 compared to just 34% in 2007, and satellite radio listening among teens increased from 26% in 2007 to 31% in 2008.
“With popular music sites like Pandora, imeem, and MySpaceMusic complementing offerings by terrestrial and satellite radio, more teens may be getting their fill of music and feeling less compelled to buy music or share it with others,” said Crupnick. “In fact a recent NPD MusicLab survey revealed that 54 percent of teens who heard a song they liked on MySpace Music were likely to simply listen to that song again on the site, compared with only 1 percent who claimed they would click through and buy the song on AmazonMP3, which is MySpace’s online partner for purchased music downloads.”
Crupnick also makes the interesting point that once a teen acquires the bulk of their digital music collection buying or sharing music slows and creating playlists from their collection grows more important.
“In fact it’s possible teens could start spending more time creating playlists and posting them online, than they would spend sharing actual song files,” he adds.
A decline in digital music sales would be an added blow to the music industry which still hasn’t recovered from declining physical CD sales. Crupnick muses that perhaps it’s signaling another shift in how teens listen to music. From records to tapes, from CDs to digital, and now digital to streaming.
“Perhaps the next wave for teens comes when just listening to music replaces purchasing actual files, which might end up creating new revenue streams, such as brand- and ad-supported music,” he continues. “It might also put a premium on selling downloads, merchandise, and show tickets directly to teen fans.”
He just might have a point, and something tells me the music industry won’t be very pleased. Distribution of music has long been its bread and butter and if teens are increasingly opting to stream music rather than purchase it, it’s in for an even tougher financial road ahead.
Related Posts
- Study: More Teens Not Buying CDs
- Two Out of Three American Teens Oppose Fines for Music File Sharers, Says Harris Interactive Youth Survey
- UK SURVEY: Teens Prefer Streaming to P2P
- Majority of Youth Understand ‘Copyright,’ But Many Continue to Download Illegally
- SURVEY: Illegal music downloading by youth drops 40%
Loading ...
“..According to a recent survey by The NPD Group, a market research company, teens (13-17yo) acquired 19% less music, both legally and illegally, in 2008 than they did in 2007.”
I’m assuming it has to do with the declining quality of music. If Lady Gaga represents the pop culture icon, maybe it’s time to re-invent the wheel.
Yea i dunno about everyone else but i haven’t really been inspired much at all by recent music, perhaps i haven’t been looking to hard but most of it doesnt seem to warrant the effort of bothering with it all
I am inclined to agree that a decline in music quality would play a role but if so sales should have declined about 5 years ago. I think it might just be that kids get their money from mom and dad and if they don’t have as much to give it impacts what the kids spend. People also seem more scared of illegal downloading now.
Hi,
I think this is a great development because the downloading of all this music is just destroying the industrie, sure the prices are a bit high but action reaction. The more people but the music the lower the prices wil be.