With all the talk today about streaming music, free streaming, streaming on Facebook and more, it’s important to remember that the majority of digital music users still prefer owning their own downloads.
That’s what music retailer eMusic is hoping to remind people of by releasing the results of a recent survey undertaken with Insight Research Group. The results in aggregate indicate that while streaming is certainly a growing activity, it does not replace music ownership and in fact in some instances serves more as a catalyst to buy more tracks.
Here’s a few snapshots of the data:
Among the general population:
— 91% prefer to own music because it allows them to listen as many times as they want
— 89% prefer to own the music they like, rather than stream it
— 86% feel that ownership gives them security that their files will not disappear
— 76% use streaming to discover music that is new to them, before they decide whether or not to buy
–74% will stream music for free, but wouldn’t pay to stream
— Only 13% pay to stream music online; 84% of consumers who pay to stream also purchase digital music files
— 79% do not think they will ever give up owning music and just stream it online
— 39% will store digital music files they own in a cloud-digital locker, so that they can listen to them anywhere
— Only 14% will increase their use of paid streaming services
Now it’s important to couch this data with the fact that eMusic commissioned the study and has a vested stake in promoting ownership over streaming given its download model. The study took place during the month of August, with a sample size of 1,000, some of which were eMusic customers.
Any streaming service could tomorrow release their own independent survey touting the interest and activity around streaming music over downloading. But the survey does provide an interesting glimpse into the mind of the preferred downloader.