According to research carried out by Avail Intelligence, music fans no longer look to professional critics to tell them what music to listen to. Although, I'm not certain the majority of the general population ever did read music reviews in the first place. However, eight out of ten consumers apparently seek recommendations from other sources, including user reviews on online music stores and social networking sites. 40 percent of respondents said they seek advice from sources such as Amazon, the iTunes Music Store and the iLike application on Facebook, while top of the list with 41 percent of the vote was the opinions of friends and family.
In addition to this, 51 percent said they prefer to buy their music on CD, while 25 percent favoured downloads. However, the average monthly spend on CDs came up at £9, which was just 38 percent of the monthly spend on downloads. Avail Intelligence's CEO, Dr Rolf Elmer said: "What this research shows is that today's consumer is more informed than ever and that personalisation will be critical for e-tailers looking to stand out".
Anyway, enough of that nonsense, which you probably weren't reading anyway. Time now for a music review.