Report: paid music services gaining on pirates

http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/entertainment/51620.html

According to this article by John P. Mello Jr., legal, fee-based music downloading and subscription services are gaining popularity while illegal music download activity is decreasing. A study released last week by a global marketing firm shows that 25% of digital music player (DMP) owners use a fee-based site to download music, whereas 19% admitted to using file-sharing software. The rest of the sample imported ripped mp3’s from their own personal CD collection or from friends. The study confirms what observers have seen in the marketplace – paid music is making advances.
One reason for this trend may be that the consumers currently entering this market are no longer the “early adopters,” but more mainstream customers who are more apt to use something like iTunes, rather than a file-sharing program. Digital music players are the “it” item right now, almost creating their own high-tech cultural movement, and consumers who purchase a DMP, almost as a fashion accessory, are more likely to use a paid service to import music onto their device. Paid services are simply easier to use, higher quality, and less chance of catching computer viruses. All of this is good news to the music industry’s ears.