Vision - September/October 2007 - (Page 42) market inSider industry research ] • [ By steve Koenig “Are home PC-audio listeners concerned with sound quality?” Play It Again PC? I n the span of a few years, the PC gap, with streaming media sites leading the rose from an enigmatic beige box charge. to what some consumers today The majority of home PC-audio users are might call the epicenter of info- satisfied with their experience, but would tainment in the home. Across like to improve their PC audio experience America, consumers are spending hours further. These improvements can manifest downloading, ripping and streaming con- in a number of ways. tent with their PCs, instead of listening to One emerging area of opportunity lies the radio, watching a DVD or viewing a in bridging the divide between PCs and TV program. And for a handful of home audio systems. Today, this consumers, the PC has become the is a nascent market with only nine exclusive purveyor of content. Still percent of home PC audio users that questions surrounding PC-based connect their PC to their home audio audio consumption in the home systems. CEA believes the market remain. What is the connection for PC-home audio system conrate between PCs and home audio nections shows reasonable growth systems? Are home PC-audio potential. The key to growing this listeners concerned with sound Steve Koenig market beyond a niche requires conquality? vincing the majority of PC audio users that CEA’s Computer-Sourced Audio Con- they need to join their PC with their home sumption in the Home Study (June 2007) audio rig. finds the vast majority (72 percent) of online U.S. adults use their home computers to lis- Great Sound ten to audio content, more than double the Another area of opportunity the study highlevel recorded in 2005.However, as the user lights in the market for computer-sourced base for computer-sourced audio content audio content in the home is somewhat has grown, practices and behaviors related less straightforward—better sound quality. to this endeavor have remained largely con- More than a third of home PC audio users stant. Music—most commonly procured say they want better sound quality, but from physical media (CDs)—continues to this group is unfortunately not too helpdominate content usage patterns. Online ful in pinpointing exactly how they wish to sources, though, are beginning to close the accomplish this goal. Better speakers and equipment play a role here, but addressing the fidelity of the content may be the best approach. The analysis demonstrates most home PC audio users look to the CD as the gold standard for sound quality. But even though the idea of digital music (MP3s) seems to vote in favor of convenience at the expense of fidelity, the majority of PC listeners (65 percent) seek a balance between these two elements. When forced to choose between quality and quantity, almost half (47 percent) of PC audio users pick the former. This suggests the seeds of higher quality digital music found in the libraries of new and existing online services may have landed in fertile ground. Loosening the bonds of digital rights management (DRM) may even fertilize growth. In addition, the ever increasing storage capacities of MP3 players may serve to allay fears of less compressed audio files limiting quantity. For the foreseeable future, expect highresolution content to gain some momentum, but the digital content business will be a balancing act between the poles of quality and quantity. The number of consumers adopting loss-less content will be in the minority—especially if this content carries a price premium. In the end, consumers will decide the issue of quality vs. quantity with their purchases. But there are steps the industry, including content producers, publishers and services, can take to help educate and awaken consumers to a better sounding digital content solution. So what are the take-aways from this research? The PC has inevitably claimed its place as a hub of content procurement and playback in the home. Home PC audio users are satisfied with their computer-sourced audio experience, but many want more from it. Online content sources have mushroomed and the stakeholders in the burgeoning digital content business are working through sticky issues such as DRM. The result is a wealth of unfolding opportunity for the industry. • www.ce.org 42 September/October 2007 Rubberball/Jupiter Images http://www.ce.org
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