Social Networking Research & Usage Data

Figures from EMR surveys of randomly chosen people between 13-65 in
the US and the European Union.

Massive Increase in Usage of Social Networks

•Overall usage of social networks increased to 86% in 2007 Vs
74%in 2006
•2007 results reveal massive increases in usage of such sites

MySpace usage incidence 2006 = 35%; 2007 = 55%
YouTube 2006 =17%; 2007= 53% (more than tripled)
Facebook24% have used it Vs insignificant 12 months ago
•Usage among teenagers aged 13-17 is remarkably high

77% have used MySpace
69% have used YouTube
61% have used Bebo
22% have used Facebook

How Social Networks Compare in Importance for Music

•The survey reveals the massive importance of music in social
networks (particularly MySpaceand Bebo). It is used to reflect
personality and it a short-cut to understanding the personality of
people you meet on such sites

•People express themselves via music and they often make friends
on the basis of shared music tastes

•For those under 35, MySpace is clearly the most important site
for music but its importance is correlated with age eg over 35s are
more likely to say YouTube is the most important site for music

•Bebo is relatively strong among 13-17 year olds (16% rate it
most important for music)

•Facebook is relatively weak in its association with music (only
5% say it is the most important social network for music)

Music Used in Social Network Profiles

•2 in 5 social networkers (39%) have embedded music into their
profile

•For Bebo & MySpace, levels are even higher (65% and 63%
respectively)

•Incidence of embedding music in a profile is directly
correlated with age. 13-17 year olds most likely (65%) and 45+ year
olds least likely (10%)

•Social networkers use music for public displays of their taste
and to reflect their personality –a means of self-expression
through music:76% of those embedding music in their MySpace profile
do
so “To show others what music I’m into”51%
“To say something about my personality”Above is also
true for Bebo users (70% to show off taste, 54% toreflect
personality)Furthermore, 59% agree with the statement “I can
tell a lot about someone by the music they have on their
MySpaceprofile”

The Impact of Social Networks on Music Discovery & Purchase:

•Social networks are having an impact on the way consumers
discover, share and purchase music:

27% regularly discover music on the social network they love (33%
MySpaceusers, 30% Bebo, 26% YouTube)

•Discovery is translating into purchase. 17% of social
networkersstate using such sites has had “massive”or
“big”impact on the way they purchase music

10% have regularly purchased music discovered on these sites
13% regularly for MySpace
15% regularly for Bebo
7% regularly for YouTube

•Users of Bebo claim that site has more of an impact on music
purchasing than users of MySpace–27% & 19% massive/big impact
respectively (MySpacehas the greatest overall impact due to its
size)

•Whilst such networks clearly influence purchase behaviour,
more needs to be done to make purchasing discovered music easier
–46% agreed with the statement “I wish it was easier to
purchase music that I find on these sites”

Attitudes Towards Social Networks

•The rapid rise of Facebook illustrates how some networks can
seemingly spring from nowhere whilst others fall out of favour just
as
quickly

•The fickleness of today’s social networker is reflected
in some of the prevalent attitudes:56% agree with “There are
too many community websites now”41% agree with “Very
popular community websites are full of idiots

•Social network sites need to consider how they monetize their
sites as 45% agree with the statement “Popular community sites
have been ruined by advertising and big business”

Sustained Massive Increases in Ownership of Personal Digital
Players

•Year-on-year, we track ownership of personal digital music
players

•Continuing massive increases in penetration
2005 = 37% own
2006 = 57% own
2007 = 77% own

•The growth of the personal digital player market hasn’t
yet reached saturation

•Penetration has increased across all demographics

•The biggest increases in brand share taken by mobile phone mp3
playersNokia -up from 4% in 2006 to 15% in 2007Samsung -up from 6%
in
2006 to 14% in 2007

PC Downloading Trends -Legal

•The survey identifies a slowdown in the increase in the
population of legal downloaders. 40% growth rate in users in 2006
reduced to some 15% in 2007
2005 = 35% had at least once purchased a legal download
2006 = 50% had at least once purchased a legal download (41%
active,
9% stopped)
2007 = 58% had at least once purchased a legal download (47%
active,
11% stopped)

•While the main purchase driver continues to be to get hold of
music immediately, the survey reveals a marked decline in the
perceived price advantage of legal downloads over CDs following the
widespread decline in the high street price of new releases

In 2006, 45% of legal downloaderscited price advantage of downloads
as
a reason for purchase but by 2007 this had fallen to 31%, providing
evidence that pricing for the record industry is currently in a
state
of considerable flux

•One measure to combat this issue might be for digital
retailers to consider introducing variable pricing models

84% of consumers agreed that older digital downloads should be
cheaper
while
48% claimed they would be prepared to pay more for newly released
tracks.