Only 8% of MP3 Owners are interested in a Portable Music Service.

Dallas, Texas February 10, 2005 - Portable music services will not have a
big impact this year, according to Parks Associates’ new report Digital
Music: Analysis and Forecasts. Respondents in the recent Parks Associates
survey Global Digital Living strongly favored the single-track purchase
model over a subscription when presented with both options. Roughly 40% said
they were likely to buy songs one at a time, but only 8% were likely to use
a subscription service.

“The market has a long way to go in promoting subscription models,” said
John Barrett, director of research at Parks Associates. “There is hope
Microsoft’s Janus technology will boost the digital music market by enabling
portability and greater integration of hardware and content. However, our
data show the industry needs to translate these solutions into something
more tangible and desirable to consumers. At present, consumers either do
not fully grasp the value of a subscription ‘all-you-can-eat’ service, or
they simply don’t want it.”

According to Digital Music: Analysis and Forecasts, the industry is
beginning to promote “buffet” music plans, which allow users unlimited
downloads for a flat monthly fee, to compete with a la carte models such as
iTunes. Technologies such as Microsoft’s Janus promote this paradigm of use,
although few MP3 players save for some very expensive models currently
support these solutions. The report, citing both limited availability and
limited enthusiasm from consumers, predicts sluggish growth for these
solutions this year, but it is more bullish on the long-term prospects
because hardware could be subsidized under a subscription model.

[via Park Associates]