WASHINGTON -- The 2000 Consumer Profile recently released here by the Recording Industry Association of America showed several interesting demographic shifts among music buyers over the past decade.
1991 to 12.9% in 2000. The latter fell from 12.8% to 10.7% over that period.
"It comes as no surprise to see the gain that Rap/Hip Hop has made," said Hilary Rosen, RIAA president and chief executive officer, in a press statement, "when you consider that all of our major record labels produced many successful multiplatinum albums of that genre throughout the year."
Rock music last year again captured the most sales, as it did throughout the decade. "Consumers clearly and consistently have chosen Rock as their predominant genre," said the association. Still, the category's share declined from 34.8% to 24.8% over the period.
"Other" was the category with the largest percentage increase from 1991 to 2000, growing from 4.2% to 8.3%. This catch-all category includes over a dozen genres, from Big Band, Latin and Electronic to Humor, Folk and Holiday.
As for purchasing sites, "the gap between record stores and the mass merchandisers continues to narrow," according to the group, "as changing lifestyles of consumers dictate where they purchase their business."
Although record stores had 62.1% of sales in 1991, they captured only 42.4% last year. During that time, however, other stores increased their share from 23.4% to 40.8%.
Internet sales grew from 2.4% in 1999 to 3.2% last year.
Meanwhile, men and women have achieved equality in buying music. In 1991, men made 54.1% of purchases to women's 45.9%; last year those respective figures were 50.6% and 49.4%. But those numbers have seesawed during the decade, with women buying more than men did in 1997 and 1998.
And older consumers are buying more.
"Of note was the 45 and over segment, which more than doubled its share of the market since 1990, rounding out the decade with a 23.8% share of the market," said the association. "This past decade clearly revealed the significance that the baby boom generation places on music in their lives."
Consumers 30 and over made 40.8% of purchases in 1991; last year they made 53.8%. Those in their 20s, on the other hand, fell from 32.4% to 23.1%.
The decade's most obvious trend, though, was a shift in recording format. In 1991 full-length cassettes had 49.8% of sales, out-performing full-length CDs, which had 38.9%. Last year such cassettes accounted for only 4.9% of sales to CDs' 89.3%.
The singles market for the combined formats plunged from 8.8% to 2.5% during that time.
The period showed healthy growth for the U.S. sound recording industry. Based on manufacturers' shipments at suggested list prices, the industry reported over $7.8 billion in 1991 and over $14.3 billion last year (showing a slight decline from over $14.5 billion in 1999).
"It's encouraging to see a consumer profile as diverse as the vast array of works that were released in 2000," said Rosen in the announcement.
