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A True Music Listening Experience is More than a Download 
 Soundcrank survey results show users want a global, interactive experience with musicians  
Woodinville, WA – September 12, 2007 – Soundcrank, a leading provider of digital music services, today published the results of their 2007 digital music survey. The survey explores consumer behavior and attitudes towards digital music. Research was conducted in August 2007 among a sample of 557 consumers of digital music. Complete survery results can be accessed at http://soundcrank.com/files/press/07DMS.pdf.
The survey reveals that 70% of consumers have used peer-to-peer file sharing applications to download music in the past 6 months.. There is a clear relationship between the usage of these applications and instances of purchasing of digital music online. Overall, only 41% of respondents actually purchased digital music online during the past 6 months.
The impact of tight legislation and scrutiny has made a dramatic impact on consumers. 64% of respondents believe that the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has overstepped their authority and are abusing the court system with their aggressive litigation. While the efforts of the RIAA have drawn harsh criticism they do appear to have an impact on music piracy. However, it's unlikely that they will be able to reduce piracy to levels where the sales of online digital music will flourish.
The results of the survey identify the most important issue the music industry must address:
Is the future of the music industry just selling tracks?
Although a smaller than expected group of respondents purchased digital music online, their response demonstrate a clear commitment to a more complete music experience. For example, some positive results showed that:
While consumers may not be purchasing digital music online they are still spending money on music related items. Soundcrank believes that the future of the music business is not just selling tracks. Consuming music goes far beyond buying and listening to a song.
What is required is the building of strong brands around artists in a way to provide the whole music experience. Those artists and their producers will be the winners.
About Soundcrank - What makes Soundcrank different? Soundcrank was started because of frustration with the digital music experience.
The digital music world of MP3s and iPods provided unprecedented convenience and flexibility but something was missing. In the move from physical to digital formats something was lost. After thoughtful examination of the digital music experience Soundcrank realized there had to be a better way! Soundcrank found that better way, and is excited to invite users to join Soundcrank and re-discover the digital music experience. The iTunes plug-in allows users to get album art and lyrics, discover new music and share your music tastes with your friends.