JupiterResearch Finds That MySpace Music Community Activity Far Outpaces Online Music Sites

Business Wire, May 31, 2006

NEW YORK -- JupiterResearch, a leading authority on the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on business, finds that sites such as MySpace generate more community-related music activity than Yahoo! Music, AOL Music or MTV.com. According to a new JupiterResearch report, "Music and Community: Low Cost, Authentic Promotion," 48 percent of music discoverers find out about music from friends.

Music discoverers continue to use a broad variety of means to find out about music, 53 percent discover music through videos and 87 percent through radio, but word of mouth is a powerful way to expose and influence musical tastes. Sites that incorporate virtual friends are influential music marketing platforms.

"Music marketers should leverage community sites, such as MySpace, to recreate the feel of personal recommendations of friends," said David Card, Vice President and Senior Analyst at JupiterResearch and author of the report. "Not only are these sites free, but they can be effective music discovery tools."

The new report studies how much activity related to the popular music group The Black Eyed Peas occurred on MySpace, Yahoo! Music, AOL Music and MTV.com. MySpace generated hundreds of thousands of "friends" of the band, and profile views and song plays in the millions. In contrast, mainstream music media sites counted artist community members in the hundreds, at best.

"Using community sites as a marketing platform is inexpensive, but it requires a do-it-yourself approach," said David Schatsky, President of JupiterKagan. "MySpace, for example, does the Flash encoding for music streaming and enables e-mailing, but not much more. Promoters should market actively on these sites and push new songs, albums, videos, or tours."

The complete findings of this report are immediately available to JupiterResearch clients online at www.jupiterresearch.com. For additional information on this report or JupiterResearch's Music research offerings, visit www.jupiterresearch.com or contact Kieran Kelly, Vice President of Global Sales and Client Service, at 1-800-481-1212 or researchsales@jupitermedia.com.

About JupiterResearch

JupiterResearch provides unbiased research, analysis and advice, backed by proprietary data, to help companies profit from the impact of the Internet and emerging consumer technologies on their business. The company helps online businesses make critical decisions about technology selection, spending, staffing, and Web site effectiveness; advises consumer-facing companies with online advertising, marketing, and customer service strategies to understand, attract, convert and retain customers; and guides technology vendors and service providers on market opportunity, positioning, product definition, and pricing. JupiterResearch is headquartered in New York City and has offices throughout the US and Europe. For more information, visit www.jupiterresearch.com. JupiterResearch is a division of JupiterKagan, Inc.

About JupiterKagan, Inc.

JupiterKagan, Inc. was formed in 2006 from the merger of JupiterResearch and Kagan Research, two companies providing thought leadership, research and advice in the domain of the media and telecommunications, Internet, and emerging consumer technologies. The company's deliverables include continuous information services (available by subscription), research reports, data, inquiries with research analysts, appraisals, litigation support and consulting. JupiterKagan operates from six offices in the United States, United Kingdom, France and Germany. For more information, visit www.jupiterkagan.com.