Research published today from Nielsen NetRatings has found that the majority of music downloaders are also buying music.
Nielsen NetRatings reports that nearly 31 million active internet users, or 22pc of the active internet population ages 18 years old and up, downloaded music in the past 30 days and 71pc of this audience purchased music in the past three months.
The report comes at a time when the music industry is alleging that the illegal sharing of digital music files such as MP3s over the internet is the reason for the decline in music sales. Others have argued that the current poor quality of new releases and continuing high prices for CDs are also behind the drop.
According to the latest data from Nielsen NetRatings, online music enthusiasts were 111pc more likely to purchase rap music than the average internet user over the past three months. Dance and club music held the second spot, with downloaders 106pc more likely to have purchased dance and club music than the average internet surfer and 77pc more likely to purchase alternative rock. R&B/soul music and rock rounded out the top five.
“Recording industry executives are devoted to finding a successful business model for selling music online,” said Greg Bloom, senior internet analyst at Nielsen NetRatings. “The de facto standard may be a few years away but understanding the genres of music that sell well online and offline will be crucial to generating revenue along the way,” he added.
By Dick O’Brien
