Consumers agree with Grammy nominators
The pros in the record industry who pick the nominees for the Grammy Awards apparently aren't that different from regular consumers. The NPD Group has been crunching data on the top CD purchases, top paid digital downloads and top peer-to-peer downloads and found lots of Grammy nominees on their top 10 lists. "Grammy nominated Rascal Flatts was one of many artists popular across CD and digital-music formats. They were very popular among consumers purchasing CDs and those buying a la carte song downloads from services like iTunes, as well as among those who are illegally downloading music for free from P2P services," noted Russ Crupnick, vice president and entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group.
Based on consumer surveys of CD purchases, the most popular artists for 2006 were as follows [Note: entries denoted with an asterisk (*) are also Grammy nominees this year]:
1. Rascal Flatts*
2. Nickelback
3. Beyonce*
4. Carrie Underwood*
5. Mary J. Blige*
6. Eminem*
7. Johnny Cash
8. Toby Keith
9. Red Hot Chili Peppers*
10. Jamie Foxx*
In 2006, the most popular artists judged by the number of digital downloads via paid digital music services, like iTunes, were as follows:
1. The Fray*
2. Nickelback
3. George Carlin*
4. Justin Timberlake*
5. Rascal Flatts*
6. Linkin Park
7. Johnny Cash
8. Creedence Clearwater Revival
9. Pink*
10. The White Stripes
The most popular artists, judged by the number of song tracks downloaded via peer-to-peer (P2P) services by U.S. consumers in 2006 were as follows:
1. Eminem*
2. Ludacris*
3. Nickelback
4. 2Pac
5. The Beatles
6. Justin Timberlake*
7. 50 Cent
8. Red Hot Chili Peppers*
9. Beyonce*
10. Rascal Flatts*
Source: The NPD Group
