• October 10, 2002

Nielsen//NetRatings reports that more than 32 million surfers, or 27% of the active online population visited a music site during the month of August 2002. Despite a host of legal challenges that continue to affect the sector, traffic remains strong as music fans look to the Web for access to free and paid music content. KaZaA, one of the few remaining file-sharing applications offering free downloadable music topped the list, drawing more than 8.4 million unique visitors for the month of August, growing 148 percent since the beginning of the year. Launch.com garnered nearly 5.9 million visitors, while MTV Networks attracted more than 5.3 million surfers at home and at work. CDNow.com posted more than 3.8 million visitors. MusicMatch Jukebox rounded out the top 5 with 3.4 million surfers logging on to the site in August.