Only 2% of consumers download paid-for music

Apr 17, 2006 12:59 GMT  ·  By

The music download market still has a long way to go, despite the current headlines about the iPod generation, as only 2% of consumers are downloading paid-for music, according to industry analyst Gartner.

"Everyone talks about the success of iTunes, but the data shows that only two per cent of consumers are downloading paid-for music in the UK," said Daren Siddall, media industry research analyst at Gartner.

Siddall said Gartner had conducted this specific research at the end of 2005 and had just got the results.

"I just had a look at the number of people in the UK who actually listen to music playlists stored on their PCs. It's only about 10 per cent of people," he said. "The fact is that digital audio is a relatively immature market."