Category: Music

62% of internet users who used the internet to find out about music they bought cite something they found offline with 32% saying it was something they found on the internet, according to the Pew Internet Project. When queried about specific ways the internet influenced their music buying decisions, here is what internet users who bought music in the previous year said: 68% said it helped them learn more about bands or artists they were interested in; 57% said it introduced them to new artists they had not heard about before; 42% said it helped them save money in buying music; 37% said online information led them to buy more music than they otherwise would have; 30% said online information changed the specific songs or album they had in mind.

For the most part, those who said their most recent music purchase was in a store were doing this by choice. Some 56% of those who bought music most recently said they could have made the purchase online, while 37% said they could not have. Among the 22% of music purchasers who bought most recently online, 61% could have bought their music in a store, with 35% saying they could not have done that. Just 7% of online music purchasers said they visited a store to sample music or ask for some help before getting their music online, according to the Pew Internet Project. As to the nature of the music purchase – CD or digital download – some 41% of online buyers of music ordered a compact disc and 58% downloaded digital files. Put differently, 13% of music buyers say their most recent music purchase was a digital download of music files. When asked whether information found online had a major impact, minor impact, or no impact at all, here is what music buyers who used the internet in their research said 51% said online information had no impact at all; 37% said it had a minor impact; 12% said it had a major impact.

62% of respondents in the music module said all of the music they buy are CDs. 20% said most are CDs; 7% said most of their purchases are individual digital files; 5% said all of their purchases were digital files; 3% said their purchases were equally split between CDs and digital files, according to the Pew Internet Project. 74% of music buyers say they went to a store, while 22% say they bought music online. Even among those who use the internet to find out about music, 33% said their most recent purchase was executed online.

Only 12% of music buyers report that they purchase digital music files, just 23% of internet-using music buyers say online resources were most important to their decision, and 63% say online information had no impact on their most recent purchase, according to the Pew Internet Project. Even 10% of buyers seeking an alternative path (e.g., downloading digital files) can have large impacts on the model. When 23% of younger internet-using buyers, arguably the most active and attractive customers, purchase mostly or entirely digital files, the disruption is consequential.