Music Industry “Time Bomb”?

New York-based JupiterResearch, a division of Jupitermedia Corporation, has concluded that the European music industry is facing a demographic time bomb that will negatively affect future revenues. This is based on the company’s report entitled European Music Consumer Survey, 2005. Though the study was specifically targeting the European market, it’s no stretch to say that the same trends could be seen in the U.S., as well. According to the report, European consumers who download their music from illegal file sharing networks outnumber those who get their music from legitimate sources such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store three to one, particularly among those in the 15- to 24-year old demographic. Of this group, 40% don’t consider CDs to be a good value for the money, and therefore justify the illegal file sharing. Mark Mulligan, a research analyst at JupiterResearch, says illegal activity is a key threat. “The ‘Digital Youth’ of today are being brought up on a near limitless diet of free and disposable music from file sharing networks.” According to the report, the music industry has to target this age group while they are young, and transition them from free consumption to paid music formats.