<nettime> Fwd: Norman Lear Center - MP3 Study Release

[Phil Graham <phil.graham@mailbox.uq.edu.au>]

     Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2000 16:44:39 -0700 (PDT)
     From: latonero <latonero@usc.edu>
     To: Phil Graham <phil.graham@mailbox.uq.edu.au>
     Subject: Norman Lear Center - MP3 Study Release
     
     FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
     Contact: Stephen Rivers or Jamie Falkowski
     Phone 310.395.2993
     
     
     
     USC Annenberg's Norman Lear Center Study Shows
     Music Industry's MP3 Fears May Be Unfounded
     
     Los Angeles -- A month after the University of Southern California (USC)
     banned MP3 downloads from Napster, the Norman Lear Center at the USC
     Annenberg School for Communication is releasing a survey of the USC
     student body that reveals there is little evidence that use of MP3
     technologies is harmful to either the recording industry or artists.
     This survey of USC students adds significant empirical data to the
     national debate surrounding Internet music downloads and music file
     sharing software.
     
     "In recent months there has been much concern about piracy of recorded
     music on university campuses across the nation, but there has been
     little research on how students actually consume MP3s," said Mark
     Latonero, principal researcher of the study. "In fact, the findings of
     this study on MP3 users contradict many media reports and music industry
     fears."
     
     Key findings in the report demonstrate the following:
     
     * MP3 is a major new phenomenon in the university population sampled:
     69% of all students surveyed say they download MP3s; of these, 68% use
     Napster.  Seventy percent of MP3 users say they learned about MP3
     technology through close social networks of family and/or friends.
     
     * Unsurprisingly, there is a strong correlation between MP3 usage and
     access to faster Internet connections.
     
     * MP3 usage among students has not significantly reduced their CD
     consumption patterns.  Most students (63%) who download MP3s say they
     are still buying the same number of CDs; 10% of MP3 users say they are
     buying more CDs.  What's more, 39% of students who download MP3s say
     that after listening to recorded music in MP3 format, they often buy CDs
     containing that music.  Students also rated CDs higher than MP3s with
     respect to sound quality.
     
     * Sharing music files is a popular activity, but 68% of students sampled
     who download MP3s say they have never converted CD music to MP3 format;
     70% have never uploaded MP3s to the Internet.
     
     * Thirty-three percent of students interviewed say their opinion of
     Metallica has worsened since the lawsuit.
     
     * Fifty-four percent of students surveyed disagree with USCís ban on
     Napster downloads.
     
     * Sixty-nine percent of students surveyed agree that copyright holders
     should be paid for downloaded MP3s.
     
     
     * Seventy-six percent of respondents say that society is better off with
     new technologies such as MP3.
     
     "The most widely reported reactions to new digital technologies tend to
     be at the extremes," said Martin Kaplan, director of the Norman Lear
     Center and associate dean of the Annenberg School.  "This study offers a
     more sophisticated look at the people who use MP3."
     
     In mid-April, USC, Yale, and Indiana University found themselves named
     in a lawsuit filed against Napster by the band Metallica.  While Yale
     and Indiana banned Napster almost immediately, USC originally held
     back.  A subsequent decision by university officials to restrict
     downloads from Napster resulted in USC being dropped from the lawsuit.
     
     The full report, which provides data on the attitudes, characteristics,
     and practices of this MP3 user community can be found at the Lear
     Center's Web site: http://www.entertainment.usc.edu/
     
     The Norman Lear Center is a multidisciplinary research and public policy
     center exploring implications of the convergence of entertainment,
     commerce, and society.  The impact of new technology on artists and on
     the ownership of creative content is a principal focus of the Lear
     Center.
     
                                        #####
     
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Opinions expressed in this email are my own unless otherwise stated.
Phil Graham
Lecturer (Communication)
Graduate School of Management
University of Queensland
617 3381 1083
www.geocities/pw.graham/
www.uq.edu.au/~uqpgraha
http://www.angelfire.com/ga3/philgraham/index.html
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