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MusicDish Industry Survey Results - MP3: DIGITAL MUSIC FOR THE MILLENNIUM?
 | An MP3.com & MusicDish collaborative project! |  |
...FINAL RESULTS...
You can look for the white paper of "MP3: Digital Music for the Millennium?" with commentary and analysis from MusicDish's survey team: Russell Kibbee, Cowboy Surfer, Herve Dang, and Sounni de Fontenay on June 28th.
| Demography (817 respondents) |
| Musician | 29% |
| Fan | 25% |
| Other | 8% |
| Engineer | 8% |
| Executive | 7% |
| Manager | 5% |
| Media | 5% |
| Producer | 4% |
| Programmer/Designer | 4% |
| Promoter/Publicist | 4% |
| A&R | 1% |
| grfx |
* Mp3 was the most popular format used by survey respondents (70%) although
the survey was biased to the extent that most participants are likely to be
mp3 users due to the co-marketing with MP3.com. The first MusicDish
Industry Survey, "Music and Copyrights in the Digital Age", found mp3
used by 23.3% of participants behind RealAudio at 68.6%.
| 1. What format do you most use to listen to music on your PC or Mac ? |
| mp3 | 70% |
| RealAudio | 17% |
| wav | 4% |
| Don't use one | 2% |
| Other | 1% |
| MSAudio | 1% |
| LiquidAudio | 1% |
| Shockwave | 1% |
| Avi | 1% |
| AIFF | 1% |
| a2bmusic | 0% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 2. Does your computer have the capability to play mp3 files?
|
| Yes it does | 90% |
| No it doesn't | 5% |
| Abstention | 5% |
| grfx |
| 3. Why do you use mp3s ? |
| Near-CD Quality | 17% |
| Wide acceptance - availability | 9% |
| High level of compression fast download | 8% |
| Flexibility & ease of use | 6% |
| Underground status | 3% |
| All of the above | 48% |
| None of the above | 4% |
| Other | 3% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
* Consumers and independent artist were seen by respondents as the big
winners from the mp3 format while major labels, retailers and distributors
were the big losers. For major labels, the emergence of mp3 shifts control
from the label to the artist by providing a cheap distribution channel,
although major artist may be the real beneficiaries due to their potential
marketing clout and established fan base.
| 4. Whom do you feel has the most to gain from mp3s? |
| Consumer | 42% |
| Indie artists | 37% |
| Hardware software developers | 4% |
| Major artists | 4% |
| Indie labels | 3% |
| Major labels | 2% |
| Distributors | 2% |
| Publishers | 1% |
| Copyright holders | 1% |
| Retailers | 1% |
| Abstention | 3% |
| grfx |
| 5. Whom do you feel has the most to lose from mp3s? |
| Major labels | 42% |
| Retailers | 18% |
| Distributors | 14% |
| Copyright holders | 9% |
| Major artists | 5% |
| Publishers | 2% |
| Indie artists | 2% |
| Consumer | 1% |
| Hardware software developers | 1% |
| Indie labels | 0% |
| Abstention | 6% |
| grfx |
* Regarding whether there is an actual commercial market for downloadable
music, the survey was clear: 47% reported being willing to pay for
downloadable singles, with 32% paying between $1 - $2, while over half were
willing to pay for full length albums, including 47% paying between $5 -
$10. The results are especially encouraging considering the impact the
Internet and New Media has had on production, distribution and marketing.
| 6. Has the downloading of mp3 files... |
| Not changed your music purchasing habits | 62% |
| Increased your purchasing of CDs | 19% |
| Decreased your purchasing of CDs | 13% |
| Abstention | 6% |
| grfx |
| 7. Would you pay to download singles? |
| Yes | 47% |
| No | 28% |
| Undecided | 24% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 8. How much would you be willing to pay? |
| Less that $1 | 46% |
| $1 - $2 | 32% |
| $2 - $3 | 6% |
| More than $3 | 4% |
| Abstention | 12% |
| grfx |
| 9. Would you pay to download full length recordings (albums)? |
| Yes | 58% |
| No | 21% |
| Undecided | 20% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 10. How much would you be willing to pay? |
| Less that $5 | 32% |
| $5 - $10 | 47% |
| $10 - $15 | 9% |
| More than $15 | 1% |
| Abstention | 11% |
| grfx |
| 11. Will you stop downloading mp3 files if you are charged for them? |
| No | 36% |
| Don't know | 33% |
| Yes | 29% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
* 65% of respondents felt that the music industry has not been responsive
to the online music community. This perception is reinforced by the portion
of respondents which found the current copyright and licensing system
difficult to use (42%) and unsuitable for the Internet (50%). As a result,
a majority of respondents believe that drastic reform is required to the
existing system. This is at odds with the actions by industry
representative such as the BMI, ASCAP and major labels which have
sought to the contrary to extend the system to the Net. This is explained
by the "legacy paradox" in which these players find themselves. In the case
of major labels, fear of losing control of marketing/distribution to new
media distributors such as AOL, major portals, Amazon.com and MP3.com has
left them in a defensive position to protect and extend those legacy
networks.
| 12. Do you feel that the music industry has been responsive to the online music community? |
| No | 65% |
| Yes | 21% |
| Undecided | 13% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
* A surprising proportion of respondents questioned the legality of mp3
usage (42%). More worrisome, 56% felt that the format has encouraged the
illegal usage of mp3s. On the other hand, the industry proposed solution
for online music distribution, SDMI, was not favored by respondents (69%).
Instead of mandating a secure format as proposed by the RIAA in SDMI, 71%
felt that it should be the choice of the respective artist or label.
| 13. Do you feel that the majority of mp3s are used legally? |
| No | 42% |
| Yes | 33% |
| Don't know | 24% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 14. Do you support the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) Secure Digital Music Initiative (SDMI), which is seeking to establish a standard for the secure distribution of digital music? |
| No | 41% |
| Yes | 31% |
| Undecided | 27% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 15. Is the current system of licensing and copyrights easy to use? |
| No | 42% |
| Don't know | 34% |
| Yes | 23% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 16. Is the current licensing/copyright system suitable for the Internet and New Media? |
| No | 50 |
| Undecided | 32% |
| Yes | 17% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 17. Should the current licensing/copyright system be... |
| Major overhaul | 42% |
| Undecided | 30% |
| Left alone | 17% |
| Eliminated | 9% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
| 18. Do you feel that there should be a central licensing regime/agency or should there be various systems and agencies for the licensing and copyrighting of music for the Internet? |
| Should not be regulated | 37% |
| Multiple regimes | 33% |
| Central regime | 28% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
| 19. Do you feel that all digital music should be in a secure format or unsecure? |
| The artist's or label's choice | 62% |
| Unsecure | 15% |
| Secure | 13% |
| Mix of both | 9% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 20. Do you feel that the mp3 format has encouraged people to download illegal recordings? |
| Yes | 56% |
| No | 25% |
| Don't know | 16% |
| Abstention | 3% |
| grfx |
* As would be expected, 64% of respondents do not own a portable mp3 player
while 22.3% own the Diamond "Rio Player". The perceived potential
market opportunity by new and existing vendors was evident by their
significant presence in the expo hall of the summit. Reinforcing the point,
84.2% answered that they would buy a mp3 capable automobile player.
| 21. Which is your preferred Portable mp3 Player? |
| Don't own one | 64% |
| Diamond Multimedia "Rio Player" | 22% |
| Samsung Electronics "yepp" | 2% |
| Saehan Eiger Labs "MPMan" | 2% |
| MP3Kit.com "Trackz" | 1% |
| Pantis GmbH "Mplayer3" | 1% |
| Other | 6% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
| 22. Which is your preferred mp3 Player software? |
| WinAmp 2.10 | 51% |
| RealPlayer G2 | 12% |
| MusicMatch 3.1 | 9% |
| Windows Media Player | 5% |
| Sonique .95c beta | 4% |
| AudioCatalyst 2.0 | 1% |
| Jet-Audio 4.02 | 0% |
| AudioSoft's Virtuosa Gold 3.1 | 0% |
| HyCD Play & Record | 0% |
| Unreal Player Max 1.29 | 0% |
| Other | 8% |
| Don't have one | 6% |
| Abstention | 4% |
| grfx |
| 23. There is a good possibility that future SDMI compliant portable digital music players will either not play the current "unsecure" mp3 format or will play them for a limited time (with an expiration date). Do you feel that this will have a positive or negative outcome? |
| Negative | 72% |
| Undecided | 15% |
| Positive | 11% |
| Abstention | 2% |
| grfx |
| 24. Would you buy an mp3 capable automobile player (to play 10 hours of music per CD)? |
| Yes | 85% |
| No | 14% |
| Abstention | 1% |
| grfx |
| 25. If yes, would you transfer all of your collection to this format? |
| Yes | 59% |
| No | 35% |
| Abstention | 6% |
| grfx |
| 26. As a musician, band or label do you offer mp3s of your music? |
| Yes | 48% |
| No | 29% |
| Abstention | 23% |
| grfx |
| 27. As a musician, band or label have mp3s helped you? |
| Build a fan base | 21% |
| Sell music | 5% |
| Get press attention | 2% |
| Get signed to a label | 0% |
| All of the above | 13% |
| Other | 18% |
| Has not helped | 13% |
| Abstention | 28% |
| grfx |
For question, contact us at info@musicdish.com
--
Surveys Index
|
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