And even more dry digital music research for you. And you thought it would all be backstage Brits gossip today. This one, by a company called Q Research, reckons that while 85% of young people own digital music players, almost half of them have never bought any music downloads. Before you all say that clearly contradicts the aforementioned Harvard/Kansas research, that doesn't mean all those kids have necessarily got their music for free off P2P instead of buying it, it means they haven't bought it from a legit download platform (they may well have bought the CD and ripped the tracks).
The Q Research seems to conclude not that P2P is the problem, but that the digital music services currently on offer aren't engaging the kids of today (I say kids, the survey included music fans aged from 11 to 25). The 'kids', the survey suggests, are looking for cost-effective services with social networking potential that are mobile compatible. Now, I should say, the cynic inside me says that this research may well have been commissioned by the recently reported new mobile music service MusicStation, which is offering a cost-effective service with social networking potential that is mobile compatible, so the research may not have been without an agenda. But I might be wrong, and it's worth checking out the results anyway.
The survey, of 1500 young music fans, found that nearly half of young MP3 owners did not pay for downloads, while a further third spend less than £5 a month on digital music. Only 3% said they spent over £25 a month. The survey also revealed that 81% of those questioned said they'd like to listen to music on their mobile, with one in four saying they had already downloaded music straight to their phones. Mobile downloading seemed to be higher among pay-as-you-go customers, possibly because data charges on pay-as-you-go platforms have come down in price in the last year. Many of those downloading also said they were more likely to use mobile services if they offered social networking functionality - such as being able to share song recommendations.
Commenting on the findings, Q Research's Rikjan Scott said that young people wanted easy access to content, and didn't really care how they got it: "There's a huge desire among young people to get the music they want, and they will get it whether that's through legal downloads, file sharing or swapping music with friends".
Dr Liz Nelson, who led the research, added that the major music companies are failing to do enough to understand the attitudes and opinions of young people, telling reporters: "They are not really aware of what's going on. The importance of understanding the way kids communicate can't be underestimated; and community elements, such as recommendation, are becoming tremendously important".
According to the Guardian, Nelson "also pointed to the recent launch of MusicStation as a more flexible, convenient service that would be well-received by the audience" which is where I get all cynical about this research again - seems a bit too convenient this research is being released the same week as the new mobile platform. Still, given CMU's own informal research with music fans among our student opinion former readership, I'd say many of their findings are probably pretty much right.