Radio Declines While Portable Music Players Rise
Victor Healey
By Ian Betteridge
May 13, 2005
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A report by business analyst The NPD Group has highlighted the rise of
music playing on computer and portable players, while listening to
radio continues a slow, steady drop.
According to the report, the number of people over the age of 13 who
listened to music on the radio declined last year from 203 million in
March 2004 to 194 million in March 2005 – a fall of 4%. The number
listening to music on computer, on the other hand, rose by 22% over
the same period, from 63 million to 77 million.
"The rise of digital listening and storage for music continues
unabated this year," said Russ Crupnick, president of the NPD Group's
Music & Movies division. "Technology companies are providing new tools
to consumers in the form of powerful music-enabled PCs and portable
music players, music companies are answering the call for more content
and consumers are responding positively."
The number of consumers ripping music to computer more than doubled,
along with the number transferring music to portable players from
computer. Significantly for companies like Apple, Napster and Yahoo,
the number buying music from web sites also rose, by 97%.