(30 June 2007 9:00 pm)

MUMBAI: Chinese music consumers are leading Asia when it comes to the use of digital music technology according to the Branded, MTV and Synovate Music Matters survey released recently at the 2007 Music Matters Asia Pacific Forum in Hong Kong.

In research that explores the music habits and attitudes of young urban Asians, Synovate surveyed 3,857 respondents aged 15 to 34 years in India, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand. Synovate director Media Research Asia Pacific, Craig Harvey, said the Music Matters survey provides music executives and marketers with comprehensive insights into the unique music market in China, as well as Asia as a whole.

Harvey says, “In the past month, 84 per cent of Chinese consumers have played music on a computer, 72 per cent played music on an MP3 player, 39 per cent have downloaded and saved a song to their phone and a whopping 63 per cent have downloaded a song from the internet without paying for it, by far the highest numbers regionally for all these activities.

“Chinese music consumers are also the least likely to use a radio or television to access music in Asia, with only six per cent ever listening to music on the radio compared to a regional average of 20 per cent and only eight per cent watching music videos on television compared to 19 per cent regionally.

“With 45 per cent of consumers believing that all their music will be in a digital format in five years, digital music is fast becoming the norm for the entire Chinese music industry, presenting unique opportunities, as well as piracy challenges, for industry executives looking to target this exciting, dynamic market.

WIn the past month, of the young Chinese urban consumers surveyed:

• 84 per cent had played music on a computer – the highest regionally

• 72 per cent had played music on an MP3 player - the highest regionally

• 39 per cent downloaded and saved a song to their phone - the highest regionally

• 37 per cent had purchased music in a physical store

• 14 per cent had paid to download music online – the same as the regional average

• 15 per cent purchased a counterfeit music CD – below the regional average (19 per cent)

• 63 per cent downloaded a song without paying for it - the highest regionally

• 38 per cent used a file-sharing program to share music with others - the highest regionally

• 28 per cent copied music from a CD

• 65 per cent are ready to replace their mobile digital music player with a music-playing mobile phone

• 22 per cent watch music videos on television almost every day

• 32 per cent two to three times a week and 13 per cent once every week or so

• 88 per cent nominated Mandarin pop as their preferred type of music to listen to regularly, followed by western pop (66 per cent), local pop (64 per cent) and Cantonese pop (52 per cent)