June 23, 2009

In all the quantitative research the RIAA does, we always endeavor to have a large enough sample to make sure that what we see in our results reflects what’s happening in the real world as well as possible.  That usually means surveys of thousands of people, asking them about topics like listening to music on mp3 players, ringtone purchases, and yes, P2P downloading (among many other questions).

But that doesn’t mean that you need to survey hundreds or thousands of people to learn something interesting.  We do lots of research on people’s music listening behaviors through focus groups and ethnographic studies which lets us talk to people in small numbers or even one-on-one.  The great part about these studies is how you get taken outside of the world of industry insiders, critics, and experts, and just hear from people who aren’t as wrapped up in the music business every day as we are.  You definitely hear and see things you didn’t expect – like the people who didn’t know iTunes could be used to transfer music from their CD collection to their mp3 player (in their defense, no teenagers lived in the house).

Last week we got a chance to listen to one of these groups outside the usual circumstances.  It wasn’t a research project, and it wasn’t by sitting behind a two-way mirror.  This group of 12 industry outsiders likely hadn’t engaged in debates about long-tail sales theories, the effectiveness of DRM schemes, or consumption patterns of digital media when marginal costs approach zero.  Which isn’t to say they were disengaged – most of them had mp3 players, and at least some knew what peer-to-peer software was.  But overall, they were probably a good cross section of ‘real world’ music listeners.

We’re speaking, of course, of the 12-person jury in Minneapolis who rendered a decision in the case involving Ms. Jammie Thomas-Rasset (http://www.riaa.com/newsitem.php?id=67AC2E75-E62A-1823-9604-FD0F15EF0F63).  This group of 12 Minnesotans showed us that, despite the protestations of some pundits who suggest that the digital world should resemble some kind of new wild west, the majority understands and believes that the same laws and rules we follow every day apply online.  Not just in theory, but in practice.  Another group of 12 people presented with similar questions said the same thing two years ago (http://news.cnet.com/Rights-and-wrongs-in-the-antipiracy-struggle/2010-1027_3-6213649.html?tag=mncol).  That makes a sample size of only 24, but it’s certainly enough to learn from.

Joshua Friedlander

Vice President, Research and Strategic Analysis, Recording Industry Association of America