• by Jack Loechner , Staff Writer @mp_research, May 26, 2005

According to the latest MusicLab report from The NPD Group, even though radio, audio devices, and music videos on television dominate overall music listening behavior, the computer is an increasingly significant medium for music listening. Computer listening behaviors are all on the rise compared to last year, with listening to music on a portable music player, streaming music online and listening to music on a computer showing the most notable increases.

Though radio remains the most popular way to listen to music, listening actually declined four percent since last year. By contrast, listening to music stored on a computer rose by 22 percent, online radio listening increased 18 percent and free streaming of online music increased 37 percent.

Consumers ripping music onto their computers more than doubled since March 2004 according to the report. The transfer of music to MP3 players also more than doubled, while paying to download music files increased 93 percent. Consumer visits to music Web sites increased seven percent this year over last.

Russ Crupnick, president of the NPD Group's Music & Movies division, said "The rise of digital listening and storage for music continues unabated this year. Music listeners today are faced with a dizzying array of methods for obtaining and listening to music, (which may) be helping consumers sample and enjoy music across a wider variety of music genres."

And eMarketer notes Arbitron/Edison data on Internet Radio:

For more information look here.