The NPD Group, surveyed Apple iTunes, iPod,
iPhone, and iPod Touch users to see how they would like their music in the "iTunes Usage
Report."
More than a quarter of respondents expressed strong interest
in a free cloud-based music option, and many were willing to pay a
subscription fee to access their own music libraries from multiple
devices and platforms.
Between seven million and eight million iTunes users in the U.S.
would have strong interest in one of the paid subscription options,
according to the report. These consumers indicated a willingness to pay
a minimum monthly fee of $10 -- either for streaming music or access
to their personal music libraries on multiple devices.
NPD estimates
that there are 50 million iTunes users in the U.S. According to NPD's music industry research, a model that offers
iTunes users free access to their own music libraries would attract in
the range of 13 to 15 million subscribers.
"After the service's launch, user numbers could conceivably rise
substantially, as they upgrade to newer connected devices and actually
experience the benefits of cloud-based music," said Russ Crupnick, vice
president and senior entertainment analyst for The NPD Group. "If the
consumers who indicated strong interest in a paid subscription actually
adopted one of those services at $10 per month, the market opportunity
is close to $1 billion in the first year, which is roughly two-thirds
the revenue garnered by the current pay-per-download model."
"We don't yet know what, if any, effect these services might have on
the traditional pay-per-download music model, or whether consumers
will ultimately spend more on digital music overall, if or when any of
these options eventually rolls out," Crupnick said.
NPD's "iTunes Usage Report" asked consumers to report on their
reactions to a music service offering free and unlimited streaming of
content from the consumer's own iTunes music library, and several paid
options for music subscriptions offering combinations of music
streaming, music downloads, and universal Web access to the consumer's
iTunes music library.