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| December 06, 2005 | BACK
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DiMA and RIAA Beckon Holiday Shoppers to Give the Gift of Legal Online Music This Holiday Season!
“Music is a popular holiday gift, and the number of consumers who enjoy the variety and flexibility of downloaded or streamed digital music is growing rapidly,” said Jonathan Potter, Executive Director of DiMA. “We want people to know about the tremendous benefits – and ease – of giving legal digital music this holiday season.”
“The legal online music marketplace is hitting its stride this holiday season,” said Mitch Bainwol, CEO, RIAA. “When it comes to purchasing holiday gifts, music fans have more choices than ever before. Record companies are excited to offer gift givers the music they love in the formats they desire. This season, legal online music is the gift that keeps on giving.”
Several recent studies point to the growing interest in digital music entertainment:
- Portable music players ranked number one on this year’s Consumer Electronics Association top-ten gift list, after not even making last year’s list;
- More than 2 million consumers now enjoy online music subscriptions;
- From January to November of 2005, there have been 300 million legal downloads, compared to 140 million the year before.
Despite this growth, music piracy remains a threat to the success of legal online music services. “The holiday season is a great time to remind people to do the right thing,” stated Potter. “Besides the obvious benefit of being legitimate, legal music services offer other advantages over illegal file sharing services such as Kazaa and Limewire, including:
- Ease of use, safety from computer viruses and much higher sound quality;
- A safer environment for children, who can be exposed to illicit adult content that is available on many illegal file sharing sites;
- The knowledge that music artists and creators are rightly being compensated.”
Gift cards for music services are ideal as a last minute purchase or as stocking stuffers. Music download or subscription service gifts can be purchased online, take only minutes and can be printed or e-mailed to friends and family. Visit DiMA (www.digmedia.org) or RIAA (www.riaa.com) to view details and link to holiday promotions available from Rhapsody, Napster, Live365 and iTunes.
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The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is the trade organization that supports and promotes the creative and financial vitality of the major music companies. Its members are the music labels that comprise the most vibrant record industry in the world. RIAA® members create, manufacture and/or distribute approximately 85% of all legitimate recorded music produced and sold in the United States.
In support of this mission, the RIAA works to protect the intellectual property and First Amendment rights of artists and music labels; conduct consumer, industry and technical research; and monitor and review state and federal laws, regulations and policies. The RIAA® also certifies Gold®, Platinum®, Multi-Platinum™ and Diamond sales awards as well as Los Premios De Oro y Platino™, an award celebrating Latin music sales.
Contact:
Jonathan Lamy
Cara Duckworth
Liz Kennedy
202/775-0101
