Mac users much more likely than PC users to pay for music - NPD

[AppleInsider]

Apple's growing herd of Mac users are three times more likely to pay for and download music than their Windows PC-using counterparts, potentially serving as a harbinger for the further growth of digital music, according to a new consumer research study from NPD Group.

Data extracted from the firm's quarterly Digital Music Monitor revealed that half of all Mac users paid to download music tracks from sites like iTunes during the third quarter of 2007, compared to just 16 percent of PC owners. In addition, Mac users were also more more likely to purchase CDs, the data showed.

"There's still a cultural divide between Apple consumers and the rest of the computing world, and that's especially apparent when it comes to the way they interact with music," said Russ Crupnick, vice president and entertainment industry analyst for the NPD Group. "Mac users are not only more active in digital music, they are also more likely to buy CDs, which helps debunk the myth that digital music consumers stop buying music in CD format."

According to NPD's consumer panel data, unit-volume sales share for Apple computers increased from nearly 6 percent in 2006 to almost 9 percent this year (January through October). "Apple's growing share in the personal computing environment -- and continued success with iPod sales -- is a potential harbinger for the continued growth of digital music," Crupnick said.

Overall, more than 32 percent of Mac users report purchasing CDs in the third quarter of 2007, compared to just 28 percent of PC users. In addition to purchasing CDs and downloading music, Mac users are also more likely to listen to music and watch videos on their MP3-players and computers, according to NPD. While 34 percent of Mac users had uploaded music to their MP3 players, just 16 percent of PC users had done the same. Mac users are also much more likely to listen to music files on their computers (56 percent) than are PC users (31 percent).

"While the market for digital music is growing, it's growing slower than many would like it to -- CD sales are still declining and digital music has not entirely replaced those lost sales," Crupnick added. "The more consumers become comfortable paying for digital music, the more chance they will evangelize to others. And at this point in the game, it's the growing base of Apple consumers that are the industry's low-hanging fruit when it comes to migrating from physical CDs to digital music."

NPD discloses that the objective of its quarterly Digital Music Monitor is to measure music acquisition activities for key consumer segments, as well as other technology and entertainment activities that could influence music acquisition trends. The firm weighs and projects data to be representative of the U.S. Internet Population age 13 and older.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

[der passant]

Well now we know that Windows users are the ones with all the stolen music on their iPods. Anyone have Ballmer's email address?

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by der passant

Well now we know that Windows users are the ones with all the stolen music on their iPods. Anyone have Ballmer's email address?

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

But there is a more complicated explanation for correlates. I'll bet that Mac users are significantly older than PC users. There is also probably a significant gender difference, as well as difference in proportion of 'corporate' versus 'non-corporate' types among Mac versus PC users.

[doemel]

Sounds logical. Now there's about 999 more myths spread by the major label FUD machine to debunk.

<sarcasm>
OTOH, maybe it's because low life music stealing scum bags can't afford Macs to begin with?
</sarcasm>

[wirc]

Surely they can, with all the money saved from the systematic starvation of musicians!

[godrifle]

What's with the shadows on AppleInsider links. They look horrible.

[BrianMojo]

...causation, much? Mac users are more likely to have more disposable income than PC users (anyone who wants to argue that Mac users are not generally more affluent, go for it), therefore it stands to reason that they'd be more likely to buy music through legal means.

[Charko]

There's no denying it!

Whether right or left, liberal or conservative, religious, agnostic, or atheist, Mac users are simply better human beings.

[1984]

Originally Posted by BrianMojo

...causation, much? Mac users are more likely to have more disposable income than PC users (anyone who wants to argue that Mac users are not generally more affluent, go for it), therefore it stands to reason that they'd be more likely to buy music through legal means.

Yet PC users somehow manage to routinely shell out several thousand dollars on high-end gaming PCs.

[solipsism]

NPD could separate consumer and corporate PCs we'd see a much closer ratio between Mac and PC music sales. I hate that they don't even acknowledge that people don't usually buy music on their machines and that many Mac users us a PC at work.

[caliminius]

Originally Posted by der passant

Well now we know that Windows users are the ones with all the stolen music on their iPods. Anyone have Ballmer's email address?

Can you point me to the section in this article where it says ANYTHING about the percentages of Mac and PC users who illegally download music?

All it says is that 50% of Mac users have paid to download music and only 16% of PC users have done the same. It doesn't say the other 84% of PC or 50% of Mac users are illegally downloading it.

As a Mac user, I don't buy digital music but I don't steal it either. I buy CDs only.

[Joseph_xxl]

Originally Posted by Charko

There's no denying it!

Whether right or left, liberal or conservative, religious, agnostic, or atheist, Mac users are simply better human beings.

You can't argue with Logic!
...by the way Logic GREAT, I just bought it last Friday!

[option']

People who own expensive cars also are statistically more likely to buy premium fuel.
People who live in the upper east side tend to buy more things than people who live in a shanty town outside of Johannesburg.

Its not very newsworthy to suggest that people who spend more for convenience+quality on computers will spend more for convenience+quality on digital music.

[zanshin]

I guess if you felt like you were ripped off by Dell, Gateway, Packard Bell (shudder), eMachines and Microsoft for the last few years, what's a little "free" music downloading?

[option']

Interesting follow-up note:

Industry Canada has commissioned a study that proves that people who download music illegally actually buy more music legally than the general population. (not surprising: people who like music buy more music. people who like music also download more music. duh)
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/...y4_2007_en.pdf

This comes on top of the facts that downloaders go to more live music events (again no surprise), and that the music industry as a whole is more profitable than ever-before. (again, no surprise: more exposure + better distribution + lower barriers to entry = more $$$)

For more information on the subject, including the fascinating aftermath of industry Canada's report, check out CBC's "search engine". (One of iTunes Podcasts-of-the-Year for 2007)
http://www.cbc.ca/searchengine/

Perhaps the RIAA should stop the propaganda and learn to love downloading.

[Rot'nApple]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

Overall, more than 32 percent of Mac users report purchasing CDs in the third quarter of 2007, compared to just 28 percent of PC users. In addition to purchasing CDs and downloading music, Mac users are also more likely to listen to music and watch videos on their MP3-players and computers, according to NPD. While 34 percent of Mac users had uploaded music to their MP3 players, just 16 percent of PC users had done the same. Mac users are also much more likely to listen to music files on their computers (56 percent) than are PC users (31 percent).

"...Mac users are also more likely to ... watch videos on their MP3-players and computers..."

Hhmmmm, and to think the execs over at NBC/Universal pulled their video content off iTunes so they can fragment the opportunities of showing to the masses their content be it Amazon, Hulu, NBCDirect, etc. and of those various opportunities, they are going after a smaller market that cares to view videos on MP3 players and computers in the first place?!

Brilliant, NBC... Simply Brilliant!

[polvadis]

Isn't this simply because the common folk that buy Macs today that get it cause it's easy to use and it just works at the same time lack the technical knowhow on downloading illegal content off of the web?

Or could it be that all of Torrent or other Peer-2-Peer software for the Mac platform really blows?

[mbaynham]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

... I'll bet that Mac users are significantly older than PC users. There is also probably a significant gender difference, as well as difference in proportion of 'corporate' versus 'non-corporate' types among Mac versus PC users.

i dont think thats the casewhere i live (london). the majority of people i know are buying macs rather than windows boxes. this covers all age ranges, hell, even my grandad at 78 just bought a mac after a life (well, not all his life!) of using windows machines. gender doesnt really matter either. this only applies to the south east of england though so i dont know about across the pond.

[Charko]

Originally Posted by mbaynham

i dont think thats the casewhere i live (london). the majority of people i know are buying macs rather than windows boxes. this covers all age ranges, hell, even my grandad at 78 just bought a mac after a life (well, not all his life!) of using windows machines. gender doesnt really matter either. this only applies to the south east of england though so i dont know about across the pond.

I think the old-school Mac users like myself (59 years old) tend to be older, but most of the switchers I know are around the mid-thirties or younger.
E.g. A lot of students are buying Macs here in Berlin.

[anantksundaram]

Originally Posted by polvadis

Or could it be that all of Torrent or other Peer-2-Peer software for the Mac platform really blows?

Touché!

[doemel]

Originally Posted by option'

Interesting follow-up note:

Industry Canada has commissioned a study that proves that people who download music illegally actually buy more music legally than the general population. (not surprising: people who like music buy more music. people who like music also download more music. duh)
http://strategis.ic.gc.ca/epic/site/...y4_2007_en.pdf

This comes on top of the facts that downloaders go to more live music events (again no surprise), and that the music industry as a whole is more profitable than ever-before. (again, no surprise: more exposure + better distribution + lower barriers to entry = more $$$)

For more information on the subject, including the fascinating aftermath of industry Canada's report, check out CBC's "search engine". (One of iTunes Podcasts-of-the-Year for 2007)
http://www.cbc.ca/searchengine/

Perhaps the RIAA should stop the propaganda and learn to love downloading.

Great! That's 3 more major label myths down, again which leaves us 996 left to debunk.

[Buck]

And not only music, software too.

[muchavo]

A) This article is wrong and misleading because not all mac and pc users were interviewed.

I would much rather see the actual data and the means by which it was procured than read a slanted interpretation of it.

B) I think that the industry should focus on the content of their product rather than the form and marketing of it if that want to see music sales go back up.

[Mr Macintosh]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

I was thinking exactly the same thing!

But there is a more complicated explanation for correlates. I'll bet that Mac users are significantly older than PC users. There is also probably a significant gender difference, as well as difference in proportion of 'corporate' versus 'non-corporate' types among Mac versus PC users.

I tend to agree with you anantksundaram but there might also be a second underlying theme to it as well. I also tend to think that it goes back to the simplicity of the OS. Granted you can run iTunes on the PC and it works great on Windows but I think that after years of operating on a PC at work and my Mac at home, I feel more comfortable on my Mac and tend to want to spend more time on it than compared to a windows machine. At the same time, I enjoy listening to music while doing email, web surfing and other various task. Sometimes listening to music allows my mind to come up with some interesting ideas for projects I am working on...

Just 2 cents worth...

[monstrosity]

Originally Posted by mbaynham

i dont think thats the casewhere i live (london). the majority of people i know are buying macs rather than windows boxes. this covers all age ranges, hell, even my grandad at 78 just bought a mac after a life (well, not all his life!) of using windows machines. gender doesnt really matter either. this only applies to the south east of england though so i dont know about across the pond.

Same in the South West England too, I have completely ran out of people to convert. My work is done.

[MsNly]

Originally Posted by monstrosity

Same in the South West England too, I have completely ran out of people to convert. My work is done.

I grew up using Macs, never a Windows machine, when I first went to school I didn't even know what they were. I have converted many people to Macs; what makes me made is when people tell me they're more expensive and not worth it...

[monstrosity]

Originally Posted by MsNly

I grew up using Macs, never a Windows machine, when I first went to school I didn't even know what they were. I have converted many people to Macs; what makes me made is when people tell me they're more expensive and not worth it...

Had some women serving behind the bar the other night, too interested in her own voice for me to get a word in edgeways. "ohh is that one of those Apple laptop thingys?" she said, "I'm going to buy one of those. The softwares crap,and they are very expensive. But what makes them so special is they make all the electrical components themselves..." I tried to butt in, but she insisted on informing me all about my Apple Mac... information which would have had more credibility had it been said more than a decade earlier.

She said she was gonna buy one! I didn't have the heart to explain how much of an Apple nerd she was talking to, and that her boyfriend (who she got the information from) talked from his arse.



I had guy at the print shop a while back informing me how "riddled with viruses" my Mac was. "If you dont believe me mate go online and have a look for yourself" he rudely exclaimed. In-fact he was such a rude spotty little misinformed PC twit, I never used his printers ever again.

For fun the other night whilst on the phone to Orange she customer services woman said "is there anything else I can help you with?" so for fun I asked about the iPhone (knowing full well they were not able to stock it in this country). The amount of FUD I was given was astronomical and hilarious, a two minute long preprepared speech on why I should not want to buy an iPhone.

[macFanDave]

Originally Posted by Charko

There's no denying it!

Whether right or left, liberal or conservative, religious, agnostic, or atheist, Mac users are simply better human beings.

And we smell better!

[aresee]

Originally Posted by anantksundaram

But there is a more complicated explanation for correlates. I'll bet that Mac users are significantly older than PC users. There is also probably a significant gender difference, as well as difference in proportion of 'corporate' versus 'non-corporate' types among Mac versus PC users.

Or it could be that the artistic Mac user stereotype is true and thus more likely to listen to music or watch movies than the typical PC user.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by AppleInsider

"While the market for digital music is growing, it's growing slower than many would like it to -- CD sales are still declining and digital music has not entirely replaced those lost sales,"
][/url][/c]

Come on, don't blame this on piracy, there are many other factors at work here:

First and foremost is that current music recordings sound as if they were engineered by retarded apes who were using $2 earbuds and not monitors to set levels, EQ and compression. thus the quality of audio on CDs, let alone 128k AACs, is absolute garbage! Want proof? listen to an AC/DC, sinatra, willie nelson, or any other CD form the 80s, and then buy one of the same on a recently released "best of" comp that claims to be "digitally remastered" Imagine for a moment how great it would sound if a band like green day were recorded and produced to the same high standard as classic rock groups like he Rolling Stones, the Beatles, etc.

second is the fact that iPod/iTunes/Zune/Zen/whatever have given people an eas to manage digital inventory of everything that they own, so they may already have plenty of music with them all of the time...



what about satellite radio, 12/Mo and I get like 80 channels of commercial free music? who needs CDs for the car now?

also, what about the fact that everyone is busier now than ever? what was a 40 hour work week for Dad 20-30 years ago has morphed into a 50-70 hour work week for most on saleries...don't deny it, you all know it is true, so we dont have the energy to do much shopping...

and of course ALA Carte is going to make less than CDs because CDs force-bundle 13 crappy tunes with one good one and one great one, so now, I as the consumer have the power to cut out the riffraff...

[JeffDM]

Originally Posted by a_greer

Come on, don't blame this on piracy, there are many other factors at work here:

First and foremost is that current music recordings sound as if they were engineered by retarded apes who were using $2 earbuds and not monitors to set levels, EQ and compression. thus the quality of audio on CDs, let alone 128k AACs, is absolute garbage!

I've read an article or two that says that many CDs are being mastered with MP3 compression in mind.

what about satellite radio, 12/Mo and I get like 80 channels of commercial free music? who needs CDs for the car now?

...but satellite has an even lower bitrate than iTunes, as well as less control than iPod and even CD in many ways. You can't "pause" many radios, replay a track and so on.

[BlackSummerNight]

LOL@ the people here saying "If you can afford a Mac then you can ..."

Blah, Apple's biggest seller is the low costing MacBooks.

[drazztikka]

My guess is that pc users don't want to pay a bit more for a better computer, so these people are more likely to download illegal content because they're greedy, searching for hours and days after some program and when they got it they don't use it because:
1. they didn't pay for it, 2. it's free after all 3. they spend most time searching free stuff.
If U paid for a program U'll feel obliged to use it.

Well certainly not everyone but there's a lot of people like this...

[muchavo]

I am a pc user. The reason why I use and buy PCs is because I have used them for years. I know how to set up a PC so it runs effortlessly. I like having the ability to choose different brands of computers.

With a PC you have a machine that is more fussy and more difficult to learn but you get more options. You can configure a PC so many more ways than a mac. You can find more software to mess around with than on a mac and you have way more hardware options, makes and models to choose from.

I dont understand why everyone cant understand this.

Both companies have completely different products.

I could see my self owning both a mac and a pc.



If I could do it easily with out a bunch of bull, I would partition my drive and throw Mac os on my computer along with windows. That seems like a huge pain though.

Everyone uses products for different reasons.

I think that the whole Mac vs Pc debate is hilarious. Its mainly put on by the companies and the users just follow right along. Its like saying my country is better than your because I was born here. Seems like a weak reason to me because I can objectively look at the benefits of both machines without caring to battle and get snobby about which one Im using at the time.

I also think the whole stigma that more artistic peole use macs is a bunch or bull too. I think its mainly put up by Apple and people just get brainwashed by commercials they see on tv.

Alot of artists use macs professionaly becaseu the machine is better for that purpose.

Seems really foolish to me. I mean its a computer.

lol, right?

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by drazztikka

My guess is that pc users don't want to pay a bit more for a better computer, so these people are more likely to download illegal content because they're greedy, searching for hours and days after some program and when they got it they don't use it because:
1. they didn't pay for it, 2. it's free after all 3. they spend most time searching free stuff.
If U paid for a program U'll feel obliged to use it.

Well certainly not everyone but there's a lot of people like this...

Let me tell you something, you snobby asshole:

People use PCs because of a few basic reasons:
1: logic that says "it is on my desk at work, so I will just use the same thing at home so I don't have to learn another damn system"

2: Go back 10 years or so when upper middle class, and even lower middle class families started bringing computers in their homes en mass...what was availible at the local store? Windows, so now they know it and don't wanna rock the boat, for the same reason that people hate when cable Cos change channel locations, just another damn thing to remember...

3: PCs offer cheaper options - NOT LESS EXPENSIVE, CHEAPER...there is a difference - Apples low end is usually equal to Dell/Gateways mid-to near high end. Apple doesnt play ball in the $400 crappy laptop market.

4: Computers are a mean to an end for most people...you can send email, do banking, surf myspacetubebook, and even manage family photos on a $500 PC with no real problem. Ever had to live on a tight budget? Dads trust fund can buy a shit ton of Macs I am sure...

5: Some folks enjoy gaming, and don't give me the "Macs can game" crap, that is a debate for a different thread.


PC users are not thieves, you sniveling elitist.

[drazztikka]

Let me tell you something, you snobby asshole:

People use PCs because of a few basic reasons:
1: logic that says "it is on my desk at work, so I will just use the same thing at home so I don't have to learn another damn system"

2: Go back 10 years or so when upper middle class, and even lower middle class families started bringing computers in their homes en mass...what was availible at the local store? Windows, so now they know it and don't wanna rock the boat, for the same reason that people hate when cable Cos change channel locations, just another damn thing to remember...

3: PCs offer cheaper options - NOT LESS EXPENSIVE, CHEAPER...there is a difference - Apples low end is usually equal to Dell/Gateways mid-to near high end. Apple doesnt play ball in the $400 crappy laptop market.

4: Computers are a mean to an end for most people...you can send email, do banking, surf myspacetubebook, and even manage family photos on a $500 PC with no real problem. Ever had to live on a tight budget? Dads trust fund can buy a shit ton of Macs I am sure...

5: Some folks enjoy gaming, and don't give me the "Macs can game" crap, that is a debate for a different thread.


PC users are not thieves, you sniveling elitist.

Dude U need to chill out.

I didn't say all PC users are thieves, I clearly stated that not every PC user is a thief, don't generalize my words. If I talk to someone about a PC vs Mac discussion, a lot of times they say macs are too expensive & that hacked programs are difficult to find, about those people I was talking about.

Of course I know not every PC user is like that, for anyone there's different needs for using a computer & it's just not possible to discuss them all.

As of your flaming, I hope U feel better now but I couldn't care less.

[a_greer]

Originally Posted by drazztikka

Dude U need to chill out.

I didn't say all PC users are thieves, I clearly stated that not every PC user is a thief, don't generalize my words. If I talk to someone about a PC vs Mac discussion, a lot of times they say macs are too expensive & that hacked programs are difficult to find, about those people I was talking about.

Of course I know not every PC user is like that, for anyone there's different needs for using a computer & it's just not possible to discuss them all.

As of your flaming, I hope U feel better now but I couldn't care less.

Funny part is that bootleg software is easier to find for OSX because no one bothers to host decoys I learned this in my college days, dont use said software any more, except for the ones that I bought...largly because I liked the (unauthorized) "free trial" and oh yea, that whole paycheck thing helps too