Ipsos TEMPO Study Reveals Impact Of Increasing Digital Acquisition Methods On Physical Purchase

Preference For Purchasing CDs By Favorite Artists Remains Strong

Amidst continued declines in the global music industry that amount to a nearly 25% reduction since 2000, recent research from Ipsos' TEMPO: Keeping Pace with Digital Music Behavior reveal for the first time that the proportion of Americans who have purchased CDs in the past six months has dropped approximately 15% since 2002. The study also shows that while this decrease is largely attributable to shifting consumer behaviors toward digital music acquisition methods, a majority of American Music Downloaders continue to purchase CDs by their favorite artists, and instead frequently rely on music downloading for sampling new and unfamiliar music.

Half of Americans Aged 12 and Older Purchased a CD in the Past 6 Months

The most recent wave of the Ipsos quarterly digital music tracking program, TEMPO: Keeping Pace with Digital Music Behavior, includes an in-depth examination of fee-based music consumption across physical, online, mobile and satellite channels. Key findings from this recent study include:

  -   Half (51%) of U.S. consumers aged 12 and older purchased a physical
      CD in the past six months. This represents a decline of roughly 15%
      since 2002, when approximately 60% of consumers reported doing so.
  -   For new releases from a favorite artist, physical CDs remain the
      primary method of acquisition among US Music Downloaders aged 12 or
      older.

  Differences in Spending Drive Concern Over Shift From Physical To Digital
  Acquisition Methods

As has been seen in past waves of TEMPO research, experimentation and use of digital acquisition is not the primary concern. Rather, it is total spending that is driving decreased revenue for recorded music.

  -   Use of digital channels is high. Fully half (51%) of US Downloaders
      aged 12+ pay for digital tracks a la carte, 35% pay to download
      ringtones, 13% pay to subscribe to satellite radio and another 13%
      pay for online music subscriptions.

Source: Ipsos Insight

Web site: http://www.ipsos-na.com/