Tweens continue to download music illegally

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A new report by the NPD Group suggests that while a majority of kids surveyed are using legal means to download music, the issue of music piracy remains. According to "Kids & Digital Content," 70% of kids in the "tween" age bracket (9-14) are downloading digital music in an average month. While most are using pay-to-download stores on the Web to acquire music, NPD noted high levels of illegal peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing, as well.


Used by nearly half of tweens who download music, iTunes is the most popular digital music store (49%); however, the second most popular source for digital music among this age group is the Limewire file-sharing service, which was used by 26% of digital tweens to illegally share music for free. MySpace was the third most popular site for music sharing, and it was used by 16% of tweens.

Two thirds of tweens who use the Internet reported that they are allowed to access the Web themselves, without adult supervision. When asked who helps them download music from the Web, 59% reported doing it all by themselves. NPD also reported that 76% of tweens who got free digital content were required to register an email address to download content. Nearly half (47%) reported they first had to download standalone software from the Web, in order to download content from online music stores and P2P file sharing services.