[Jason Dunn]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040302005751&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view

This is a self-serving press release from Best Buy (I suppose all press releases are :roll, but I found this survey data quite interesting:

"Despite the growing popularity of digital music, a recent Best Buy Digital Music survey shows that many consumers still have concerns about giving it a try. According to the survey, the top obstacles that prevent people from downloading music include worrying about lawsuits (30 percent) and not knowing where to start with the process (27 percent). And, with more than half of people (57 percent) feeling confused or clueless about options available for accessing digital music, they crave information about services and players that cuts through the clutter and helps them enjoy all that digital music has to offer."

57% of people confused or clueless about what their options are? That somehow seems low to me! Between iTunes, Puretracks, Napster, and various other online music services, 2004 will be the year online music sales really take off. Some might argue that happened in 2003 with iTunes, but the industry itself will see a big gain this year. This year is the first year I've purchased online music that has DRM protection, and thus far, I've had no problems with it.

[Jason Dunn]

http://home.businesswire.com/portal/index.jsp?epi-content=GENERIC&newsId=20040302005751&newsLang=en&beanID=202776713&viewID=news_view

This is a self-serving press release from Best Buy (I suppose all press releases are :roll, but I found this survey data quite interesting:

"Despite the growing popularity of digital music, a recent Best Buy Digital Music survey shows that many consumers still have concerns about giving it a try. According to the survey, the top obstacles that prevent people from downloading music include worrying about lawsuits (30 percent) and not knowing where to start with the process (27 percent). And, with more than half of people (57 percent) feeling confused or clueless about options available for accessing digital music, they crave information about services and players that cuts through the clutter and helps them enjoy all that digital music has to offer."

57% of people confused or clueless about what their options are? That somehow seems low to me! Between iTunes, Puretracks, Napster, and various other online music services, 2004 will be the year online music sales really take off. Some might argue that happened in 2003 with iTunes, but the industry itself will see a big gain this year. This year is the first year I've purchased online music that has DRM protection, and thus far, I've had no problems with it.

[James Fee]

At the risk of being elitist, I woudn't call the average Best Buy customer "up on the technology". 8O

OT - Jason, you need a "High Horse" emot so I can use it in just this circumstance. :wink:

[Gary Sheynkman]

Originally Posted by cageyjames

At the risk of being elitist, I woudn't call the average Best Buy customer "up on the technology". 8O

OT - Jason, you need a "High Horse" emot so I can use it in just this circumstance. :wink:

Ill have to agree. From personal experience I can say that Best Buy has gone way down the tubes while Circuit City is at least trying to hang on with great warranties and deals. Too bad they dont pay commision to their salesmen anymore.

[Neil Enns]

I love having the ability to get legit music through a place like Napster. My music tastes are shameful, and I'll rarely purchase a whole album: there's generally just one or two horribly teen-pop songs from a release that'll get stuck in my head, and I think it's great to be able to buy them individually.

There's just two things that frustrate me to no end:

iTunes often has vastly better selection than Napster, yet iTunes music is useless to me. All my other media is in WMA.

I hate the DRM protection :twisted: I can just barely squeak by with three downloads to get the music onto my work PC, home PC, and laptop. And don't even get me started about the music not working on my mobile devices. And if I ever decide to wipe any one of my three machines, I can't restore the music (or at least I haven't figured out how).

[possmann]

I haven't started to download from Napster yet - out of the fear that I may one day need to exceed any DRM placed on me...

I'm with ya on the Best Buy comment - people who shop there are rarely looking for downloads or rarely search the internet to get more informed. They want things fast and easy - no thought involved...

Oh well

[Suhit Gupta]

I definitely agree that most of the people that go to Best Buy aren't up with it, and for the most part, nor at the people working there . But aren't the people that go to Best Buy represent the large demographic out there. I think that this is why the "study" was done in the first place.

Suhit