Few industries have been disrupted by the digital revolution to the extent music has. In the not-too-distant past, people bought music by going to a store and buying a compact disc. With the advent of the internet and peer-to-peer file sharing, change has been sharp. Shipments of CDs peaked at 942.5 million units in 2000 and fell by 25% to 705 million units in 2005. Figures released earlier this year show that album sales fell by 9.5% in 2007, even though digital sales grew by 45% in this period. This decline in album sales is attributed not only to online file-sharing, but also to leisure dollars competing with other forms of entertainment such as DVDs and video games.¹⁰

Some 27% of internet users say they have downloaded music from the internet, according to our March 2006 survey. Given lawsuits over illegal downloading of copyright protected music, not all downloaders may admit to this behavior. Whatever the prevalence of this behavior, downloading music files has challenged the traditional means by which music is marketed and sold.

In this survey, half of respondents (53%) said they had purchased music in the past year, and 26% of respondents were directed to the module with detailed questions about music purchasing. Although online resources greatly influence the music-buying experience, they are by no means dominant and, in fact, music shopping and purchasing maintains a strong offline flavor.

Respondents who were directed to the music module are not representative of the general population. They are more likely to be internet users 83% and to have broadband at home (59% do), which compares to 73% and 50% respectively in the general population. They are also slightly younger, with a median age among adults of 43 compared with 45 in the general adult internet population.