Chinese lead in digital music technology

National - Young Chinese music consumers are leaders in embracing digital music technology in Asia, according to the Branded, MTV and Synovate Music Matters survey released today at the 2007 Music Matters Asia Pacific Forum in Hong Kong.

The survey revealed 84% of Chinese consumers have played music on a computer, 72% played music on an MP3 player, 39% have downloaded and saved a song to their phone and a whopping 63% have downloaded a song from the internet without paying for it in the past month, reflecting 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 6% ever listening to music on the radio compared to a regional average of 20%, and only 8% watching music videos on television compared to 19% regionally.

"With 45% of consumers believing 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," Craig Harvey, director for Synovate Media Research Asia Pacific said.

The research is based on a survey of 3,857 respondents aged 15 to 34 years in China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan and Thailand about their music habits, activities and attitudes. The survey was conducted in March 2007 via telephone and face-to-face on AsiaBUS, Synovate's monthly omnibus survey.