An undercurrent to the whole music industry crash and burn has been this implied, and sometimes quite overt, notion that the kids today “just don’t value music” and this somehow is the reason why usage of peer-to-peer networks has increased. It seems that the less and less music is valued, the more and more music is illegally downloaded. In fact, if one were to take it to extremes, all this “worthless” music is killing the music business. And the counter-example is that “worthwhile” music is all that is being purchased.
I ain’t buying it. I just think the music business does not know who to measure “value” anymore. And it certainly doesn’t know how to get remunerated for it. This survey seems to validate my view:
As social networking destinations continue to explode, the rules are being rewritten on music promotion and discovery. But questions continue to linger on the best ways - if any - to monetize the action.
Most younger users are dialed into at least one social network, and music is usually threaded throughout the experience. In fact, 39 percent of all social networkers embed music into their profiles, according to a recent UK-based survey by Entertainment Media Research. Users of MySpace and Bebo have much higher rates, at 63 and 65 percent, respectively.
Read the whole article here