When it comes to legal music downloads, Napster and iTunes, are the big brands. Napster, thanks to its free-sharing past is still the most recognized brand according to Ipsos’ TEMPO Digital Music Brandscape study. iTunes is no slouch, and has 57% brand share. Not sure, if Napster holds a candle to iTunes sales though. Regardless, the study shows that online digital music has finally hit a tipping point, and most services are seeing a growth, though iTunes/Apple continues to build upon its early lead.
- Four out of five (79%) downloaders recognize the Napster brand, while roughly three out of five (57%) are aware of iTunes.
- Roughly two out of five (43%) of fee-based downloaders report using iTunes, while one-quarter (26%) report Napster 2.0 usage. Rhapsody increased its business over past year, up from 8% to 13%.
- iTunes most closely positioned as enabling seamless Portable MP3 Player integration and allowing the user to take music with them.
Matt Kleinschmit, Vice President of Ipsos Insight and author of the TEMPO study. “These data indicate that while consumers remain most likely to be aware of iTunes and Napster, other fee-based services are benefiting from the mainstream growth in digital music and iPod in particular, and remain viable options for consumers seeking fee-based online music outlets moving forward.”
3 comments so far
10:08 AM PT
I wonder how many people recognize/associate the Napster name with the original pirate program, and how many actually even realize they are now just another subscription based service?
2:45 PM PT
Agreed, recognition doesn’t equal dollars. If they did, iTunes would get nothing because remember it’s not iTunes that sells music, but the iTines Music Store. iTunes is free.
But I digress…
3:08 PM PT
that’s precisely the point. i think people still think of napster and think free pirated music. unfortunately….
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