More than half of Koreans Internet users are still downloading MP3 files for free from peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing sites.

Research shows that 51.4 percent of 4,000 users said they download free MP3 music files from P2P services such as Pruna.
Some 27.8 percent said they still used once-free sites like Soribada which were recently forced to charge for MP3 files under a point system. Another 16.4 percent said they sample CDs.

Sanyo Debuts ECD-HD1990M HD Radio/MP3/WMA/CD Car Audio Receiver

Sanyo today announced a new car audio receiver; a full featured, HD Radio(TM) 200W receiver which playback MP3 and WMA music. The advantages that HD Radio offers over traditional AM/FM broadcasts include crystal-clear, static-free reception, the ability to broadcast multiple streams over a single FM frequency and the delivery of variety of data services ranging from text-based information (such artist name, weather, or local news scrolled across the receiver display. Users will now be able to enjoy AM digital radio with clarity similar to today’s FM analog broadcasts. Additionally, FM digital delivers sound similar to CD-level quality.

Sanyo ECD-HD1990M HD Radio Receiver Key Features

* HD Radio Tuner Built-In
* VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display)
* Detachable Front Panel
* Full Function Credit Card Remote
* Power Output 200W Maximum (50 Watts x 4 Channels) MOS-FET Power
Amplifiers
* Motorized CD Loader
* Rotary Volume and Tone Controls
* MP3/WMA/CD-R/CD-RW Playback
* 6 Mode Preset EQ and 10 Band Parametric EQ
* CD Changer Controls (operates Sanyo EAX-510 CD-Changer)
* 36 Station Presets (6AM/18FM/12ATP)
* RCA Line Outputs (2 pairs)
* RCA Input (1 pair)
* Sub Woofer Output
* Aux Input For Portable Players on Front Panel

MAGIX today announced the addition of mp3 SURROUND into its comprehensive range of applications. Providing studios, artists and consumers with the necessary tools to easily create multi-channel, surround-quality mixes for a broad spectrum of applications, mp3 SURROUND also offers complete backward compatibility to any existing mp3 software and hardware devices.

mp3 SURROUND supports high-quality, multi-channel sound at bit rates comparable to those currently used to encode stereo mp3 material, resulting in files half the size of common compressed surround formats. mp3 SURROUND was developed by Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS in collaboration with Agere Systems and introduced in December 2004. The technology enables 5.1 channel surround-quality sound for web-based music distribution, broadcasting systems, PC-related audiovisual or gaming applications, consumer electronics and automotive systems.

“As professional and amateur musicians continue to rely more and more on the PC for performing editing and mixing functions, they will be seeking the latest technologies to help them achieve the ‘perfect’ sound,” said Jurgen Jaron, CEO MAGIX. “We are pleased to add mp3 SURROUND to our already vast library of professional and consumer music and video editing tools. The mp3 SURROUND capabilities are a perfect match for our popular Sequoia and Samplitude software programs, as well as for our video editing software like Movie Edit Pro 10.”

More than five million songs have been downloaded from legal online music stores in the UK so far this year.

Between 1 January and 16 April, some 5,263,995 tracks were downloaded from UK music providers, more than the number sold in the whole of 2004. That said, for five months last year Apple’s iTunes Music store wasn’t operating in the UK.

In the most recent wave of TEMPO, Ipsos-Insight’s quarterly study of digital music behaviors, a representative sample of U.S. music downloaders aged 12 and older were presented with simulated digital music acquisition environments consisting of various options for obtaining online music. One of these simulated environments included an online peer-to-peer (P2P) file-sharing network, an on-demand streaming PC-tethered subscription-based service, and an a la carte pay-per-download service.

24% of current downloaders indicated a preference for obtaining music through a fee-based online offering, with an a la carte pay-per-download method most preferred (19%; compared to 5% preferring an on-demand PC-tethered streaming subscription service). When a new portable online music subscription service (which allows an unlimited number of songs to be transferred to associated portable devices) was introduced to the market scenario at $14.99 per month, the proportion of downloaders who would choose this method was 5%, one-third fewer than the 17% who would choose an a la carte method at $0.99 per song, yet greater than the 4% who would choose an on-demand PC-tethered streaming subscription service. This suggests a potential limitation in rapidly migrating current downloaders to this new method of fee-based online music acquisition.

Downloaders who have experience paying for online music are most pronounced in their preference for pay-per-download methods, as 28% of these consumers reported a preference for the a la carte option, 4% for an on-demand streaming PC-tethered subscription-based service, and 8% preferring the new portable subscription service. Meanwhile, downloaders with past experience using fee-based online music subscription services and those who currently own a portable MP3 player are most receptive to the new portable online subscription service, with 17% and 11% respectively choosing this method of purchasing fee-based online music in a simulated competitive context.

Adult downloaders aged 25 to 54 are the most likely to have paid to download digital music (50% among 25 to 34 year olds, 53% among 35 to 54 year olds). And while younger downloaders have typically been less likely to report having paid for digital music, in the most recent findings, over half of downloaders aged 12 to 17 report that they have paid for digital music (52%), suggesting that recent efforts to promote pre-payment methods to teens are proving successful.

·Nearly equal proportions of male and female downloaders have paid to download digital music files off of the Internet: 49% of U.S. male downloaders aged 12 or older report having engaged in this activity compared to 45% of American females. American female downloaders are continuing to narrow this gender gap, as women’s current fee-based downloading experience levels have nearly tripled compared to one year ago (16% in December 2003), whereas men’s have nearly doubled (24% in December 2003).

Parks Associates surveyed 4,000 US households regarding their digital music preferences. 27% of MP3 owners download music at least weekly (compared to 16% all Internet households). 25% listen to Internet radio at least weekly (compared to 17% of all Internet households) 30% create/burn CDs/DVDs at least weekly (compared to 18% of all Internet households) 54% listen to music at the PC at least weekly (compared to 34% of all Internet households) 21% are likely to pay for a la carte music downloads (compared to 10% of all Internet households) 11% are likely to subscribe to Internet music service (compared to 6% of all Internet households) 11% are likely to purchase Media Center PC (compared to 6% of all Internet households) 15% are likely to purchase digital music adapter at a price between $151 and $200 (compared to 8% of all Internet households).

2005 shipments of MP3 players will grow 35% to 18.2 mln. JupiterResearch predicted the MP3 player market would maintain a CAGR of over 10% through 2010, reaching an installed base of 56.1 mln by then, up from 16.2 mln in 2004. In the consumer survey of online adults, 6% said they intended to purchase an iPod in the next 12 months, while 4% said they would buy a hard drive model from another vendor, such as Creative or Dell.

Pew Internet and American Life Project reports that more than 22 mln American adults (age 18 and older) have iPods or MP3 players. And, though the study did not include teens, the review suggests that there are likely several mln more MP3 players owned in the teen world. 14% of men have the players, compared to 9% of women. 19% of those under age 30 have iPods/MP3 players. 14% of those ages 30-39 have them. 14% of younger Baby Boomers (ages 40-48) own them. 24% of those who live in households earning more than $75,000 have them.

Shipments of MP3 players are expected to rise by nearly a factor of four from 2004 to 2009, according to iSuppli. Total MP3 player shipments will expand to 132 mln units in 2009, rising at CAGR of 29.1% from 36.8 mln in 2004. HDD-based MP3 player shipments will grow at a CAGR of 41.8% from 2004 to 2009. Shipments will rise to 56.2 mln units in 2009, up from 9.8 mln in 2004. By 2009, iSuppli expects HDD-based products to account for nearly half of all MP3 shipments at 42.6%, up from 26.6% in 2004.

Global music sales stayed flat in 2004, according to IFPI. US and UK exhibited some growth, 2.8% and 4.5% respectively, but the rest of the world markets reported declines, balancing out the growth numbers. 47% of all music is sold in the US and UK.

Sales of physical formats (which includes CDs and cassette tapes) declined by 1.3% in value (and by 0.4% in units) to $33.6 bln. Music DVD sales rose 23% and have doubled their share of the world music market from 4% in 2002 to 8% in 2004 - with a value of $2.6 bln dollars. CD sales increased in 36 markets in volume terms in 2004, with positive performances in some major markets but also a growing switch from cassette to CDs in developing markets in Eastern Europe, Asia and the Middle East.

Digital sales rose exponentially, with the total number of tracks downloaded in 2004 (including album tracks) up more than tenfold on 2003, to over 200 mln in the four major digital music markets (US, UK, France, Germany). The trend has continued in 2005, with digital sales in the US in the first two months more than double that of the same period in 2004.

A grand total of 8 albums sold more than 5 mln copies in 2004, up from 5 albums in 2003. Among the albums: Confessions by Usher; Feels Like Home by Norah Jones; Encore by Eminem; How To Dismantle An Atomic Bomb by U2; Under My Skin by Avril Lavigne; Greatest Hits by Robbie Williams; Greatest Hits by Shania Twain; Destiny Fulfilled by Destiny’s Child.