A new survey indicates online file sharers are more likely to buy music than others:

The survey was based on 36,000 Internet users and released by Web tracker Nielsen//NetRatings, a unit of NetRatings Inc (NTRT).

It showed that nearly 31 million active Internet users aged 18 or older — representing 22 percent of the active Internet universe — downloaded music in the past 30 days, and 71 percent bought music in the past three months.

....Nielsen//NetRatings classified online music enthusiasts as users who had downloaded music in the past 30 days, whereas the average Internet users are people logging onto the Internet for surfing and other purposes.

....Greg Bloom, senior Internet analyst at Nielsen//NetRatings, said that understanding the preferences of online music enthusiasts may help recording executives in their attempts to successfully woo fans from the free swap, or peer-to-peer services, which let people get songs without authorization. [Reuters]

The genres online enthusiasts were most likely to purchase were rap, dance/club, alt rock, R&B, soul, rock.

"The de facto standard may be a few years away, but understanding the genres of music that sell well online and offline will be crucial to generating revenue along the way," Bloom said.

I would say the main point here is that those who swap also buy, as we have been saying all along. The RIAA's targets are exactly their best customers.