MP3s are good for music

MP3s are good for music biz – Forrester. Pigopolists should monetize P2P networks [The Register]

Forrester Research has surveyed a thousand music customers and concludes that MP3 downloads are good for the music business.

Twenty per cent of those surveyed – two groups Forrester describes as “music lovers and music learners” – buy 36 per cent of CDs, and these enthusiastic downloaders said MP3s had no effect on their CD purchasing.

“The idea that digital music is responsible for slump is completely false,” concludes Forrester analyst Josh Bernoff.

Forrester attributes the 15 per cent slump in music sales to a number of other factors. The economy is in a slump, there’s much more competition from games, from DVDs – which saw an 80 per cent rise in sales – and most interestingly – from the “limited playlists” rotated by commercial US radio stations.

Forrester notes that one company, ClearChannel controls 60 per cent of radio, so new artists don’t get the opportunity to be heard.

I’ve discovered some new artists – and bought their CDs – thanks to Napster. I would do a search for an artist I like, and when I found someone who had a lot of that artist’s music, I would browse that user’s library.

That’s how I discovered Senegalese singer Alioune Mbaye Nder & le Setsima Group and bought his CD. I’ve also bought CDs by Los Van Van, Capercaillie, The Pogues, and a few others after downloading their music.