Twitter Is Helping the Music Industry

Twitter users are more likely to buy music online than non-users. An NPD report says that 33 percent of Twitter users bought a CD in the last three months, compared to 23 percent of all Internet users, and 34 percent of Twitterers purchased a digital download, which is considerably more than the 16 percent of overall Web users who bought music online.

Can Twitter change the downward spiral of music sales? The four major labels, EMI Music, Warner Music, Sony BMG and Universal Music, all have Twitter accounts, no doubt to take advantage of easy distribution on the platform. However, bands and artists have also been able to keep their trusting followers more up-to-date on their latest releases through Twitter, and spread new music more efficiently.

Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for NPD said that “based on their music-purchasing history, active Twitter users are simply worth more to record labels and music retailers than those who are not using Twitter.” NPD also says that people on Twitter purchased 77 percent more digital downloads than non-users.

Perhaps a higher level of trust exists when it comes to music suggestions within Twitter networks. When a friend or follower suggests a song on Twitter, I’m more likely to receive the message and listen to it than if it were to be announced by e-mail spam, or even on an official site. Sure enough, the report also mentions that Twitter users listened to music more frequently online, be it on social networking sites, online radio or music videos.

The instantaneous nature of Twitter also encourages musicians to release music more quickly; singles, music videos, and remixes have been distributed immediately, rather than keeping followers waiting months for new material. To stay updated, it’s usually better to follow your favorite artist on Twitter than to periodically check an official Website.

Twitter is changing the way music is discovered on the Internet, but is it superior to other methods of finding music?

Have you bought music because of Twitter?

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[NPD]