Millions Delete ALL Music Files?

Honig the Apothecary writes "CNN is reporting that millions of people have deleted all the music files from their computers in a story here. My question is how the hell would they know? Are they substituting "deleted" for the words "disabled sharing with other users"?"

Comments

Methodology

[Snot Locker]

The original press release is here. In it, it states:

Methodology Note: NPD MusicWatch Digital information is collected continuously from the PCs of 40,000 volunteer online panelists, balanced to represent the online population of PC users. NPD's MusicLab survey was fielded in September of 2003 to a representative sample of 5,000 respondents aged 13 and older.

Still, you have to believe their volunteer panelists wouldn't fess up to having any downloaded music given the current RIAA intimidation tactics.

Re:Correction

[Datasage]

Yup, cnn is own by time warner. They also own all of these music labels.

Warner Music Group - Recording Labels
The Atlantic Group
Atlantic Classics
Atlantic Jazz
Atlantic Nashville
Atlantic Theater
Big Beat
Blackground
Breaking
Igloo
Lava
Mesa/Blu emoon
Modern
1 43
Rhino Records
Elektra Entertainment Group
Elektra
EastWest
Asylum
Elektra/Sire
Wa rner Brothers Records
Warner Brothers
Warner Nashville
Warner Alliance
Warner Resound
Warner Sunset
Reprise
Reprise Nashville
American Recordings
Giant
Maverick
Revolution
Qwest
Wa rner Music International
WEA Telegram
East West ZTT
Coalition
CGD East West
China
Continential
DRO East West
Erato
Fazer
Finlandia
Magneoton
MCM
Non esuch
Teldec
Other Recording Interests
Warner/Chappell Music (publishing company)
WEA Inc. (sales, distribution and manufacturing)
Ivy Hill Corporation (printing and packaging)
Warner Special Products

Source: http://www.cjr.org/tools/owners/timewarner.asp

Re:Correction

[Epistax]

The article is from reuters, not CNN, you silly, silly bastard.

LOS ANGELES, California (Reuters) -- More than a million households deleted all the digital music files they had saved on their PCs in August, a sign that the record industry's anti-piracy tactics are hitting home, research company NPD Group said. ...

Re:Lies, damned lies, and dumb polls...

[I am Kobayashi]

Actually it isn't based on a poll, but rather 40,000 voluntary computer users who allow their computers to be monitored...

Hmm I wonder if people who know their computers are being monitored are more likely to delete their digital music files... Maybe that would affect the validity of this study, you think? :p

Here is the official press release

Note it states:

"Methodology Note: NPD MusicWatch Digital information is collected continuously from the PCs of 40,000 volunteer online panelists, balanced to represent the online population of PC users. NPD's MusicLab survey was fielded in September of 2003 to a representative sample of 5,000 respondents aged 13 and older."

Good to see someone actually looked up the source

[emkman]

Kudos to you for actually going to the NPD site and finding out the basis of their claims before bitching on /.
And to answer your question:
Hmm I wonder if people who know their computers are being monitored are more likely to delete their digital music files... Maybe that would affect the validity of this study, you think? :p

Yes; this is called voluntary response bias in statistics. People with large collections of illegal files are much less likely to volunteer to have their PC watched, as you implied. Note from the official press release :Eighty percent of the consumers who deleted files had fewer than 50 files saved; just 10 percent had more than 200 files.
I think most people will agree that 80% having less than 50 songs is not an accurate representation of the file-sharing population.