C. Number of Years Taping Music

Current music tapers were asked to indicate the length of time they had been taping music. More specifically, they were asked if they had been taping "less than a year, between 1 and 3 years, or more than 3 years." Table 7 shows the percent of the total population, as well as the percent of current music tapers, who had been taping music for each of these three lengths of time. In addition it shows the percent of music taping hours accounted for by each of these three groups.

Note first that fully 21% of all music tapers have been taping music for less than a year. Surprisingly, however, these "new" tapers account for a disproportionately small (13%) percent of the total time spent in taping music. În contrast, 41% of the music tapers have been taping for more than three years and these tapers account for more than half (55%) of the time spent taping music. These findings indicate that the longer one has been taping music, the more time one is likely to devote to this activity.

D. All Music Taping vs. the Taping of Complete Albums and Individual Selections

All current music tapers were asked to report the number of hours they spent taping complete albums and then to report the number of hours they spent taping selections or excerpts from albums. Almost 93% of all music tapers (or 19% of the total population) readily acknowledged that they had taped complete albums, individual selections, or both. Although the remaining 7% were not asked what they taped, it should be realized that people taping live performances (be they recorded in person, or from radio or TV) will often not view this activity as the taping of an album or several selections. For example, after taping a Rolling Stones performance or a concert of the New York Philharmonic, some people might report that they had taped a number of selections. Others might perceive that they taped neither an album nor several

selections, but "a Stones concert" or "an evening with the Philharmonic." We find that 78% of the total hours spent taping music were spent taping albums or selections. Since our primary concern is with the home taping of prerecorded music, the remainder of this report will consider only those 36.2 million people who are current album and/or selection tapers. This focus on complete album and/ or selection tapers ignores an additional 2.8 million music tapers, even though it seems reasonable to assume that at least some of the music taped by these people was available in prerecorded form. Therefore the data described herein present a conservative view of the extent of album and selection taping.

F. Reasons for Taping

All album and/or selection tapers were given a list of 14 reasons "for taping music and other professional entertainment that they could have bought as records or prerecorded tapes." They were asked to identify all the reasons why they had taped during the past 12 months and then to choose the one reason for which they taped most often. Table 9 gives the percent of current album and/or selection tapers mentioning each as a reason they taped at least once, as well as the percent who mentioned each as the reason they taped most often.

Perhaps not surprising, the primary reason for home taping is to avoid buying prerecorded product. More specifically, 45% of the album and/or selection tapers said they had made at least one recording so that they "didn't have to buy it," and 25% gave this as the reason they taped most often. The other major reasons for taping most often were: to make a copy for car or office (17%); because I enjoy creating my own programs (11%); because taping is fun (9%) and because tapes are easier and more convenient to use than records (9%). Taken together, these 5 reasons explain why 71% of album and/or selection tapers tape most often. Considering reasons for taping at least once during the survey year, it can be seen that, although in a slightly different order, these same five reasons are mentioned most frequently.

Three other points can be made about Table 9. First, although it has often been argued that a great deal of home taping occurs because of the poor quality of prerecorded tapes, note that only 10% of tapers made a recording for this reason and only 3% said they taped most often in order to "get a better quality recording than is available on prerecorded tapes." A different type of quality does arise as the sixth most important reason for taping. That is, 18% of the album and/or selection tapers have made at least one recording to preserve the quality of their records, while 8% said this was the reason they taped most often.

Second, it can be seen that more than twice as many people taped because of the lack of availability of prerecorded tapes than because of the poor quality of those tapes. For example, in contrast to the 3% who said they record most often because of the poor quality of prerecorded tapes, 7% said they record most often because a prerecorded tape is not available.

Finally, it must be realized that the findings in Table 9 are based on all current album and/or selection tapers and therefore do not show important differences among those who only tape albums, those who only tape selections and those who tape both. For example, while 27% of album only tapers said they taped most often to make a copy for their car or office, only 10% of selection only tapers gave this as their reason for taping most often. Similarly, while 20% of album only tapers said they have made at least one recording to preserve the quality of their records, this is true for only 11% of those people who tape only selections. A complete discussion of the differences among these three types of tapers is beyond the scope of the present report.