SURVEY SAYS, MUSIC STILL POPULAR
At this year’s NARM session, NPD's Russ Crupnick ran through a truckload of pie charts with some surprising and not-so-surprising results. First off, in surveying 13-65 year-olds, there appears to be no shortage of enthusiasm for music, the continuing downtrend in music sales notwithstanding.
Physical sales still account for 42% of all "acquisitions," which would include both legal and illegal means of obtaining music. Three out of four respondents claim they still like the shiny silver discs for their versatility, especially the ability to rip it and use the file in any way they choose.
When it comes to discovering music, radio still rules. Terrestrial radio may have declined, but it is still clearly dominant when it comes to exposing people to music. Although it was interesting to note that those listening to satellite radio were 30% less likely to buy music because of overexposure creating a lack of need.
Some no-brainers, like point-of-purchase displays being a good thing, were also ferreted out. Once again, the decision or where to buy was totally based on selection, which was even more important than value to consumers. In other words, the variety of products offered was even more important than price, consumers not wanting to waste their time looking for stuff.
Overall, radio (32%), not surprisingly, leads the way as far as how people discovered music, followed by family and friends (21%), computer (20%), retail (16%) and ads (16%).
NPD's research showed that the computer category for discovery was dominated by the Yahoo's and Napsters of the world and surprisingly NOT the social networking sites, a factoid many in the audience found hard to believe. Also, when consumers discover music in stores, they tend to buy, but when finding it on a computer they tend to over-sample, which delays the purchase.
