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Details about the AP-Rolling Stone poll on downloading music
[February 02, 2006]

Details about the AP-Rolling Stone poll on downloading music


By The Associated Press
The Associated Press

Demographics and details about the AP-Rolling Stone poll on attitudes about music and where people get their music:

The survey information comes from a poll of 1,000 adults, including 963 music listeners, from all states except Alaska and Hawaii. It was conducted Jan. 23-25 for the AP and Rolling Stone magazine by the international polling firm Ipsos. The poll has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.



HIGHLIGHTS: Four in five music listeners consider downloading music without getting authorization "stealing." Almost as many, 74 percent, say they think CDs are expensive. And a solid majority, 58 percent, feel that music is getting worse. People 40 and older were most likely to fall into this category.

WHERE PEOPLE GET THEIR MUSIC: More than half of music listeners say they usually get their music from stores that specialize in records or CDs, and about the same number said they get their music from large retailers like Best Buy or Wal-Mart. Most music listeners, 55 percent, say the main way they learn about new music is through FM radio. Whites were more likely than nonwhites to say FM radio is the main way they learn about music. A majority of young adults, 18-34, were most likely to learn about new music from FM radio. The most popular type of downloading was buying music from Internet sites like iTunes that charge a fee for downloading.


FAVORITE MUSIC: Rock and roll was the most popular form of music, the favorite of 26 percent of music listeners. Men were more likely, 32 percent, than women, 21 percent, to prefer rock and roll. That was followed closely by country music, chosen as the favorite by 22 percent. Not surprisingly, people from rural areas were more likely, 32 percent, than people in the cities or suburbs to say country music is their favorite.

YOUNGER VS. OLDER: Younger music listeners, 18 to 34, were much more likely, 34 percent, to say music in general is getting better than those 35 and older were inclined to say that, 20 percent. Younger music listeners were a little more likely to buy songs online than those 35 and older. Those from 18-34 were more likely, 26 percent, than older people, 16 percent, to say 99 cents is too expensive for a song download. Those who download music are more likely, 25 percent, than others, 13 percent, to say it isn't stealing to download music for free without permission of the copyright holder. Both young adults and those older were very likely to say downloading music without permission is stealing.

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Associated Press director of polling Mike Mokrzycki contributed to this story.

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