iTunes garner major share of UK online music

iTunes garner major share of UK online music

	Published : Mon, 21 Nov 2005 20:05 By : Amy Watts Print this Story

Research from XTN Data shows that iTunes account for 54 per cent of UK digital music sales. Its sales show that it sells five times more than its closest competitor Napster. The research by XTN was based on a late September survey of over 1,000 British consumers who buy music both online and offline.

Napster has 10 per cent of the market followed by Wippit, MyCoke Music and MSN. High profile music companies such as Virgin, HMV and Tesco, have not yet made any impact in this market, according to Xtn.

However, users are still not a pleased lot. Fifty-eight per cent of the consumers surveyed criticised the legitimate download shops for their elevated prices. Another 41 per cent said they were difficult to use, while 43 per cent felt that these shops do not offer the music that consumers want.

It is very likely that users disappointed with legitimate music download services would illegally download music, Xtn said. The hullabaloo of the anti-piracy campaigns launched by the music industry notwithstanding, around 66% of respondents using P2P networks to download music were not worried about the legal action that might be taken against file-sharers.

Following the survey, a number of P2P companies have reportedly closed their networks and agreed to reach an understanding with the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA). Henceforth, they will equip their software with code to ensure that file-trading is illegal.

Digital rights management (DRM) also continues to be a dampener for many music consumers.

Wippit CEO Paul Myers said: “65 per cent of Wippit customer downloads are unrestricted MP3's compared to 35 per cent protected Windows Media Audio formats.”

The BPI also recently revealed the magnitude of piracy in UK saying that “20 million legal downloads have already been sold this year compared with just 5.7 million in 2004.”