Twitter Users Buy More Music Online

By Margarita Nahapetyan

A new report released by NPD Group, states that people who use Twitter are much more likely to be interested and engaged in music when compared to those who don't use the social website. In addition, Twitter users were found to be more willing to pay the piper.

NPD followed the music buying habits of about 4,000 users of the Internet. The firm found that the crossover between buyers of music and Twitter users is much higher than among those in the general Internet-using population, and that this segment spends more money on music, compared to an average user.

According to the report, nearly 12 per cent of music buyers said that they have used Twitter in the last 3 months, compared to just 8 per cent among general users of the Internet. The study found that more than 30 per cent of Twitter users confirmed purchasing a CD in the past three months, whereas another 30 per cent reported that they have bought music downloads online in that period of time. As to average Internet users, they came in at 23 and 16 per cent, respectively.

NPD's figures demonstrate that when Twitterers buy music, they spend more cash, than their non-tweeting counterparts, and are more likely than the average Web user to get engaged with online music activities, with 33 per cent listening to music on social-networking sites, and 39 per cent watching music videos online, compared to 25 per cent of those who do not twit. Twitter users were twice as likely to use services like Pandora and MySpace Music, and 41 per cent reported listening to Internet radio, when compared to 22 per cent of general Web surfers.

"Twitter has the potential to help foster the discovery of new music, and improve targeted marketing of music to groups of highly-involved and technologically savvy consumers, but it has to be done right," said Russ Crupnick, analyst at NPD entertainment industry. "There must be a careful balance struck between entertainment and direct conversation on one hand, and marketing on the other. Used properly Twitter has the power to entertain - and to motivate music fans to purchase more new albums, downloads, merchandise and concert tickets."

The experts suggest that Twitter users are more likely to buy more music because they hear about it through their network of friends on Twitter, and supported by it's one-to-many broadcasting style. The other possible explanation could be that users follow a number of favorite bands that also twit and download the latest albums the moment they hear about them. It is also possible that individuals who Twitter are just generally more social people, who may have a tendency to buy more music, or at least hear about the new releases through one of a various social sites they are also a member of, such as Facebook.

The study appears to be the first from a major market research firm that analyzed the association between Twitter and music buyers, though there have been previous studies that examined the music buying habits of P2P users. Twitter users and P2P users might not be exactly the same group, but the thing they share is that they both are highly-engaged online and are early adopters of technology.