Napster users 'giving up on CDs'

[petpiranha]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertain...ic/4216400.stm

Napster users 'giving up on CDs'

Music fans are giving up buying CDs in favour of downloading music, according to download service Napster's UK arm.
Some 150,000 of Napster UK's 750,000 members say they no longer buy CDs, the company has revealed.

And Napster UK manager Leanne Sharman said it was "a matter of time" before downloading overtook high street shops as the most popular way to buy music.

CD sales have dipped slightly so far in 2005 compared with last year's record high when 163 million albums were sold.

Some 55 million songs have been downloaded or streamed since Napster UK launched in May 2004, with James Blunt the most popular artist.

NAPSTER USERS' TOP 10 ARTISTS
1. James Blunt
2. Mario
3. Gorillaz
4. 2Pac
5. Tony Christie
6. Coldplay
7. Jem
8. Green Day
9. Nelly
10. Gwen Stefani


Interview - Napster president Brad Duea

Napster began life in the late 1990s as an illegal download hub, becoming the scourge of the music industry.

But it relaunched as a legal service and this is the first time the company has revealed details about its users and their tastes.

"I think it's only a matter of time until consumers are wanting digital platforms as their number one method for music consumption," Ms Sharman said.

"We believe we're in a transitional period. And we believe we will see an increased demand for online personalised music services because it's all about how much time do people have these days?

"People want music one click away - one click away from all the music you could ever want, which is what Napster offers."

She said record companies should not worry because the overall demand for music had increased and fans were just buying their music a different way.

Napster also revealed 80% of its users were over 25 and 75% were male.

High street battle

The figures come days after high street giants HMV and Virgin announced plans for new download services to ensure they are not left behind in the sales battle.

More than 13 million songs have been legally downloaded in the UK so far this year - compared with virtually zero in 2003.

In June, market leader Apple revealed that more than 50 million tracks were bought in the first year of its European iTunes service, across 17 countries.

Apple says it has sold more than 500 million songs worldwide in total.

Napster president Brad Duea recently told the BBC News website the online music industry would become an "exploding multi-billion dollar space in the next two years".

[Pete!]

Bump from 2001

[Stew]

Christ sake @ Tony Christie.

[LesMTS]

Am I the only person left in the world who likes actually owning an album, like in a tangible sense?? There's just something about going to a shop and buying a record.

[djbarry]

No you aren't, I still buy stuff for my own collection, but for work alot of the time I'll download.

[Stew]

I love going out and spending a fortune on albums. I just like to download first to make sure I'm going to like them.

[Krocktopus]

Vinyl records are best, 2 sides, you have to get up to change over, they crackle and they're big and you get them in weird colours. cds r good, they r round and shiny and you can hold them in your hand.

I have loads of mp3s on my computer and apart from Pink Floyd John Peel session from 1970 i wouldnt giv a toss if i lost them all. Id be very concerned if my albums went missing though.

And wandering aimlessly round record shops picking stuff up and looking at it is great. I hope mp3s dont kill all this off, i'm sure they wont.

Do napster reckon rekon we'd rather watch a live gig on a computer screen from the comfort of your living room instead of a hot, sweaty, smelly hovel as well? i think not.

[djtoast]

yeah, the TANGIBLE aspect should continue to be important for a while i hope. i'd hate to think we'd lose the social thing of lending someone a (physical) album of some music you bought and enjoyed.

[Pete!]

I think there's an element of overly fond recollections of old formatts going on here. Do people forget that CDs skip, vinyl can be a hassle (turning over, cant easily rewind etc.)

[djtoast]

CAN easily rewind vinyl - it's the BEST format for that, you just pick the needle up and plonk it down an inch further back!

but like with film/digital photography , there's something NICE about the irrrational aspect of clinging to older formats i think. sitting on a front porch with a lemonade talking 'bout how things used to be better is quite satisfying.

[Pete!]

Originally Posted by djtoast

CAN easily rewind vinyl - it's the BEST format for that, you just pick the needle up and plonk it down an inch further back!

Well that's absolute bullshit, frankly. Sure you might be able to rewind to the beginning of a track, but is it easier to pinpoint 3 mins into a song? Certainly not easier than mp3s.

Originally Posted by djtoast

but like with film/digital photography , there's something NICE about the irrrational aspect of clinging to older formats i think. sitting on a front porch with a lemonade talking 'bout how things used to be better is quite satisfying.

Well you're only saying that because you're old.

[petpiranha]

Subconciously influenced by that article, I went out and bought some records today

"Death To The Hard Drive!"

[djtoast]

Originally Posted by Pete!

Well that's absolute bullshit, frankly. Sure you might be able to rewind to the beginning of a track, but is it easier to pinpoint 3 mins into a song? Certainly not easier than mp3s.

yeah, it actually is... you may have to trust me on this, but if you have a record handy, look carefully at the grooves. you'll notice lighter patches and darker patches, in a kind of concentric stripe arrangement.

the lighter bits are where the grooves are more loosely spaced because their amplitude is bigger - these are the louder bits. the darker patches are the quieter bits where the (smaller amplitude) grooves are closer together.

these stripes obviously coincide with places where th music changes - like from verse to chorus, or whatever. so you actually have a BETTER idea with vinyl where to out the needle than you do with a cd, guessing what number of mins/secs you need to FFW / RW to.

with even a minimal amount of experience / practice you can hit any bit of a tune you want to within a couple of grooves ( = a couple of seconds)

proper hip hop DJs can literally pick an individual word from a hip hop track at will

[Pete!]

Originally Posted by djtoast

yeah, it actually is... you may have to trust me on this, but if you have a record handy, look carefully at the grooves. you'll notice lighter patches and darker patches, in a kind of concentric stripe arrangement.

the lighter bits are where the grooves are more loosely spaced because their amplitude is bigger - these are the louder bits. the darker patches are the quieter bits where the (smaller amplitude) grooves are closer together.

these stripes obviously coincide with places where th music changes - like from verse to chorus, or whatever. so you actually have a BETTER idea with vinyl where to out the needle than you do with a cd, guessing what number of mins/secs you need to FFW / RW to.

with even a minimal amount of experience / practice you can hit any bit of a tune you want to within a couple of grooves ( = a couple of seconds)

proper hip hop DJs can literally pick an individual word from a hip hop track at will

Yup. I take it back, those above four paragraphs explaining how to find a spot in a song, clearly indicate that it's easier to maneuver to a part of a tune with vinyl, than it is to simple skip through the track.

[djtoast]

it's easier to do than to say!

not trying to be argumentative ya bas