Streamies to the Rescue?

“Streamies” buy more CDs than other people, but they want to hear it first, according to Jon Iverson in Stereophile:

It will probably be years before we can determine the actual effects that Napster and other online file-trading networks have had on the music business. Conflicting evidence suggests that swapping music either increases or reduces CD sales.

But one conclusion seems clear: Consumers are less likely to buy what they don’t first have a chance to hear. And as radio’s listener base is shrinking, more folks turn to the Internet to find new music. New research from Arbitron and Edison Media Research indicates that “streamies”—defined in the report as people who have watched or listened to streaming media online—bought more than one and a half times the number of CDs in the past year than the average US consumer.

The study, Internet 9: The Media and Entertainment World of Online Consumers, found that weekly streamies bought, on average, 21 CDs in the past year, compared to the average American, who bought 13 CDs. The researchers say they also found that residential broadband adoption has doubled in just under 18 months, accelerating online audio streaming. Those with a cable modem or DSL Internet connection at home jumped from 12% in January 2001 to 28% in July 2002.

In an effort to put their results in proper perspective, Arbitron and Edison say they have conducted nine studies of the Internet and streaming media, one every six months since 1998, and will continue to do so (click here for a report on the previous study). Arbitron’s Bill Rose says, “While some in the record industry have viewed streaming as a threat, this research indicates that streamies are a very lucrative group of record buyers.”….