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Online Music Sales Tumble. But the question is how did comScore do the survey and how much does it reflect the recession verses a reduction of sales due to free downloading music. Detailed study methods were not published online, just the general comScore model (see below for their statement). If the study is correct, then P2P file sharing may be having an adverse effect on music sales and this may be taken into account by judges in pending cases and by lawmakers pressured by the RIAA, etc. However, could this be a reflection of consumers' desire to pay for a reasonably priced song, easily, simply, using an alterative business model not yet in place by the music industry, instead of the old CD model?
Check out the survey itself to find out about what comScore reports (summarized below).
Online sales declined at 3x the rate of declines for other types of music. They also compared online music sale declines (12 percent, 28 percent and 39 percent in the first, second and third quarters of 2002) to other online purchases which have been steadily climbing approximately 30% each quarter over the past three quarters. 14 million people apparently used the 6 biggest shareware programs in September. Check out the table in the middle of the piece showing the decline in Napster users compared to the rise in Kazaa, etc. It's reciprocal.
How they say they do it:
"About comScore Networks
comScore Networks provides unparalleled insight into consumer behavior. This capability is based on a representative cross-section of more than 1.5 million global Internet users who have given comScore explicit permission to confidentially capture their Web-wide browsing, buying and other transaction behavior, including offline purchasing."