Last month Jupiter reported that experienced online song-swappers are more likely to buy new music than average music fans, not less. Now the RIAA this week blasted this report issuing its own data to "refute" Jupiter's conclusion. The Jupiter report also says that things like broadband Internet access and writable CD drives do measurably sap music industries revenues.
"The boost outweighs the bust," Sinnreich wrote.
Sinnreich's report was written in the wake of figures released by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which showed that 2001 music sales dropped 6.5 percent from 2000, counting all recorded formats - CDs, CD singles and cassette tapes. The IFPI blamed the losses largely on "mass copying and Internet piracy."
This week, the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) blasted Jupiter's findings, calling them faulty while complaining that a key demographic group - online music fans under 18 - was not polled.
"It is a serious flaw that the research doesn't cover teens, who are among the heaviest downloaders, and who are most vulnerable to replacing CD purchases with downloaded files and even buying burned CDs for a fraction of the price from friends at school," the RIAA said in a written statement.
Since when are teens the people that have money to spend? I can't believe that many teens buy that much CDs.
Whose research is correct? For the complete arguments read the article at BizReport and judge for yourself.
It is strange however that the RIAA is discussing this single research report in such public manner. Did it struck a nerve? Do they feel threatened?
Source: bizreport
