Study of Online Sales/Freeloading of "In Rainbows" Released

From CNN/Money:

comScore, Inc. , a leader in measuring the digital world, today released a study of online sales of "In Rainbows"...

During the first 29 days of October, 1.2 million people worldwide visited the "In Rainbows" site, with a significant percentage of visitors ultimately downloading the album. The study showed that 38 percent of global downloaders of the album willingly paid to do so, with the remaining 62 percent choosing to pay nothing. The percent downloading for free in the U.S. (60 percent) is only marginally lower than in the rest of the world (64 percent).

"I am surprised by the number of freeloaders," said Fred Wilson, managing partner of Union Square Ventures and well-known music aficionado. "The stories to date about the In Rainbows 'pick your price' download offer have been much more optimistic. I paid $5 U.S. and had no reluctance whatsoever to take out my card and pay. It's a fantastic record, the best thing they've done in years. But, this shows pretty conclusively that the majority of music consumers feel that digital recorded music should be free and is not worth paying for. That's a large group that can't be ignored and its time to come up with new business models to serve the freeloader market."

While freeloaders appear to be as prevalent in the U.S. as in the rest of the world, the U.S. paying customer is willing to pay far more ($8.05 per download) than his international counterpart ($4.64). The difference could be attributed to the fact that U.S. consumers generally have more disposable income, but possibly also to the greater popularity of free file-sharing in other countries.

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