The total time spent using the Napster file-sharing application plummeted 65 percent from February to June 2001, according to Jupiter Media Metrix. But that doesn't mean Internet users have given up on downloading free music.
Total time spent using the Napster file-sharing application plummeted 65 percent among home users in 14 leading wired countries, from 6.3 billion minutes in February 2001, Napster’s peak month in terms of both time and unique users, to 2.2 billion minutes in June 2001.
According to Media Metrix ratings data, unique users of the application dropped 31 percent, from 26.4 million to 18.3 over the same period. These figures represent more than 85 percent of the worldwide online population and include usage in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States.
“Last year Napster became one of the fastest growing software applications Media Metrix ever reported, with its U.S. user base nearly quadrupling within six months of the application’s debut into the ratings reports,” said Doug McFarland, president of Media Metrix. “Today, the Media Metrix ratings show a wide scattering of the former Napster audience to various other music file-sharing resources.”
| Traffic to File-Sharing Sites U.S. at-home users |
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| Site | Unique Audience | Percent Change |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| May 27 | July 15 | ||
| Napster.com | 4,073,000 | 2,628,000 | -36% |
| KaZaA | 179,000* | 433,000 | 142% |
| BearShare | 197,000 | 274,000 | 39% |
| Audiogalaxy | 534,000 | 707,000 | 32% |
| iMesh | 262,000 | 331,000 | 26% |
| * Traffic from week ending June 3rd Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
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Nielsen//NetRatings reports that traffic to Napster among at-home uses declined 36 percent during the eight weeks ending July 15th, while other file-sharing sites, including KaZaA, BearShare, Audiogalaxy and iMesh, are gaining traffic, suggesting that Web surfers are seeking alternatives to Napster.
Not surprisingly, teens are leading the growth to these other file-sharing sites. Teens spent more time and accessed more pages on file-sharing sites than any other demographic during the week ending July 15th. More than one-third of the visitors to kazaa.com are teens, but this group normally comprises only 12.6 percent of the Web audience.
Other file-sharing sites have seen large increases in traffic. KaZaA spiked 142 percent in traffic to 433,000 unique surfers, compared to 179,000 unique visitors during the week ending June 3rd. Bearshare surged 39 percent in traffic to 274,000 unique visitors, while Audiogalaxy jumped 32 percent to 707,000 unique visitors during the past eight weeks. Another file-sharing site, Imesh, rose 26 percent to 331,000 unique visitors.
“Consumer interest in file-sharing sites is skyrocketing, in light of the recent restrictions placed on Napster. Traffic to Napster is dropping while other file-sharing sites are spiking in traffic,” said Jarvis Mak, senior Internet analyst, NetRatings. “However, we’re finding that consumers are still willing to try the new Napster software, as nearly 16 percent of the site’s audience are visiting the software download page.”
| Unique Users of Napster Application At-home users (000) |
|||||||
| Country | Jan. 2001 |
Feb. 2001 |
March 2001 |
April 2001 |
May 2001 |
June 2001 |
Percent Change |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | NA | 468 | 345 | 352 | 423 | 331 | -29% |
| Australia | 918 | 1,035 | 906 | 804 | 968 | 759 | -27% |
| Japan | NA | NA | NA | NA | NA | 206 | NA |
| Brazil | 699 | 1,084 | 719 | 617 | 1,029 | 705 | -35% |
| Canada | 3,343 | 3,960 | 3,105 | 2,555 | 3,743 | 3,219 | -19% |
| Denmark | 162 | 170 | 118 | 115 | 173 | 130 | -24% |
| Germany | 1,229 | 1,880 | 1,469 | 1,198 | 1,477 | 1,033 | -45% |
| Spain | 812 | 929 | 879 | 676 | 904 | 728 | -22% |
| France | 503 | 595 | 413 | 349 | 641 | 576 | -3% |
| Italy | 1,103 | 1,201 | 1,116 | 1,041 | 1,586 | 1,489 | 24% |
| Norway | NA | 332 | 294 | 221 | 294 | 258 | -22% |
| Switzerland | 149 | 167 | 143 | 111 | 139 | 118 | -29% |
| U.K. | 667 | 1,007 | 804 | 697 | 906 | 770 | -24% |
| U.S. | 11,538 | 13,561 | 10,787 | 8,930 | 8,027 | 7,940 | -41% |
| Total | 21,123 | 26,389 | 21,098 | 17,666 | 20,310 | 18,262 | -31% |
| Source: Jupiter Media Metrix | |||||||
