That seems to be one of the rationals provided by the NPD Group, referring to yet another survey about the behaviors and downloading habits of the P2P community. CNet reported that according to the NPD Group, the number of people sharing music is down - but interestingly enough - so are the number of people buying digital music.

The NPD Group reported that the total number of the Internet population downloading 1 song from a P2P network dropped from 18% in 2008 to 14% in 2009. There were also 24 million few people downloading legal tracks as well. So where is everyone going? Russ Crupnick of NPD offered his opinion on the matter:

"You have a lot of people who have built up their collections," Crupnick said. "They are filled up with both paid music and unpaid and it is something like 'I found all the important stuff I wanted, all the Japanese stuff or concert stuff. I'm happy with the collections I've accumulated.' This cuts into need."

That makes sense - there is no shortage of music available on the Internet, to the point that sources of music have become in a sense, decentralized. With web integration such an important aspect of the Internet these days, having to run an independent program to download a song or two just seems clunky to a lot of people. Alternatively, streaming music sites have much to offer, without a lot of the headaches typically associated with P2P.

Date: 2010-03-01 Source: http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=1919