Young adults talk freely: About how, why they don’t pay for music
|
They are passionate about music and represent a large segment of the market, but they also are more likely to get their music by copying CDs and downloading it illegally off the Internet — practices blamed for declining CD sales.
“Chasing the youth part of the demographics is always the hardest,” said Johnny Rose, senior executive of sales and marketing for DreamWorks Records.
Rose moderated a panel discussion Thursday at the annual Country Radio Seminar with eight people between the ages of 15 and 28 who spoke about their music listening and purchasing habits — anonymously, so they could talk about their online file-sharing habits.
“The whole reason I download is I can’t afford to buy what I want,” said a young man identified as Clifton, who estimated at least 60 percent of his music comes from illegal downloading or copying friends’ CDs.
“If I was at a different stage of my life, I probably would buy all of my music because I know it’s not right to download.”
The Country Radio Seminar did not limit the panel discussion to country music.
“Consumers are open to more types of music than ever before,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for a young person today to listen to a heavy metal group, a rock band and to Toby Keith.”
Conventional wisdom has been that illegal downloading and CD burning are less a threat to country music than to other genres such as pop and rock because country appeals to an older, less computer-savvy audience.
But Rose dismisses that notion, saying country listeners represent the broadest segment of the population and have access to computers and to the Internet about the same as the national average.
“Country is a true cross-section of the market place,” he said.
Three of the eight said they obtain 60 percent or more of their music through illegal downloading and CD burning, one said about 10 percent, and four said 5 percent or less.
“I always took it as basically stealing, so it has never been an option to me,” said a woman identified as Lida, the oldest person on the panel and the only one who said she had never downloaded music or copied CDs.
A woman identified as Kate said she and her friends turn to illegal downloading or CD burning only when they can’t find a rare song anyplace else.
“I have a rule that I try to buy a CD that I like,” she said. “Especially with the way the industry is now — it needs all the help it can get.”
Three of the eight said they had used pay sites to download music, such as Apple Computer’s iTunes and Napster, and most of the others said they would be willing to pay $1 or so per song if the sites had the songs they wanted and were easy to use.
All the panel members said they still value bought CDs for the liner notes, lyric sheets and the variety of songs by the same artist. They also think $10 to $15 is a fair price range for a CD.
The recording industry has tried to crack down on illegal downloading. The Recording Industry Association of America has sued 1,445 people for alleged copyright infringement since September. Most of the earlier cases have been settled, for an average of $3,000 each.
The music industry says its tactics are slowing the tide of free downloads.
A study released in January that surveyed 1,358 Internet users in late fall found the number of Americans downloading music dropped by half from six months earlier, with 17 million fewer people doing it nationwide.
But some experts and users say that file sharers are only being more secretive, and that file swapping is actually increasing.
Rose said the RIAA lawsuits have been successful in at least one respect.
“The goal was to bring awareness to the problem, and they’ve definitely achieved that and enlightened consumers to the ramifications,” he said.
Some panel members said the lawsuits have made them more sensitive to how illegal downloading hurts artists and the recording industry. They also expressed fear of being caught.
“Even though it’s only been a handful of people getting sued, there’s always that chance that you will be in that handful,” said a man identified as Matt.
But a teenager named Terry with spiky dark hair doubted the lawsuits will have a lasting effect.
“People will keep doing it,” he said. “How are they going to sue everybody?”