NPD Group: Apple’s iTunes Music Store successfully translates brand awareness into usage

“According to The NPD Group, there is strong consumer awareness for paid music download sites, but convincing consumers to actually use them appears to be a more difficult proposition. Among companies that have entered the paid download arena, Apple’s iTunes Music Store has been the most successful so far at translating consumer awareness into actual usage. On the other hand, companies like Rhapsody and Pressplay that boast a longer history in this arena and a broader base of potential users have less awareness and very low usage rates,” BusinessWire reports.

“NPD reports that the iTunes Music Store reached 20 percent awareness among all consumers aged 13 and over based on a survey conducted in June of this year. Among Macintosh users, the initial target for the iTunes Music Store, consumer awareness jumped to 46 percent. In addition, six percent of Mac users have actually paid for a song or album via iTunes. Conversely, Pressplay and Rhapsody, which have been in the market much longer than iTunes, both showed a 14 percent awareness among all consumers. Less than one percent of individuals age 13 and older reported downloading music from either site; future usage intent was not any higher,” BusinessWire reports.

“‘Obviously iTunes has struck a chord among consumers – especially Mac users,’ said Russ Crupnick, VP of The NPD Group. ‘Half of this audience is aware of the iTunes Music Store, which is borne out by the fact that iTunes’s usage is higher only two months after launch than that of other music sites that have been around for over a year. It remains to be seen whether existing fee-based sites can leverage their offerings to meet or exceed the success enjoyed by iTunes as well as whether they can begin to pull users from free file sharing services like Kazaa and Morpheus,'” BusinessWire reports.

Full article here.