Napster's gone, the industry won, but consumers just don't care

Subscription-based music downloads fail to strike a chord...

Consumers have not accepted purchasing and downloading music via the web and are unlikely to change when subscription-based services - like Napster's legit offering - become available. A Gartner survey found that nearly 50 per cent of the 4,000 adults polled listened to CDs on their PCs, while only 25 per cent listen to music downloads from the internet. In addition, it was reported that only six per cent of respondents have purchased digital music downloads in the past three months. The GartnerG2 report states that in order for the digital revolution to become viable, the 'big five' record labels have to agree to a standard platform for digital music distribution. As each record label wrestles to find a viable offering, they are simultaneously alienating their customers and stalling the economics of the proposition, according to the GartnerG2 report.