- 7 Audits & Surveys studied various aspects of the home-taping activities of a representative cross-section of the United States population (aged 10 or over). Audits & Surveys randomly selected over 1,350 persons who had engaged in any home taping in the last year and had them maintain detailed month-long diaries of their home-taping activities (if any). In addition, Audits & Surveys interviewed a subsample of nearly 500 respondents and performed physical audits of the complete home-tape collections of nearly 600 respondents. Audits & Surveys conducted the study pursuant to rigorous methodological standards. Indeed, the Audits & Surveys approach was extremely conservative, and its findings therefore probably understate the true volume of music that is home taped.' 8 For example, in calculating the total volume of music taped, Audits & Surveys counted 10 selections (or 45 minutes of taping from the radio) as equivalent to one album. In fact, many albums have fewer than 10 selections and are shorter than 45 minutes. Thus, the actual volume of music taped probably exceeds the figure reported by Audits & Surveys. Similarly, Audits & Surveys was sensitive to the possibility that the study itself might stimulate an unusually high level of home taping by focussing respondents' attention on that activity. To prevent such skewing, Audits & Surveys masked the subject of the study by informing respondents that it was conducting a "leisure time study." Along with questions about home taping, respondents were also asked about attendance at professional sporting events, at live concerts, and at movies. Audits & Surveys Report at 25. - 8 One of the key inquiries of the Audits & Surveys study was: how much music is home taped annually? Audits & Surveys found that Americans tape the equivalent of 564 million albums of music annually. (See chart on next page.) The primary sources from which this music is taped are LP's (39%), radio (31%), and single records (17%).' The market value of this taped music (with the average album selling for $6.72) is nearly $3.8 billion. When the volume of home taping was last studied in depth, the data revealed that there were almost as many home tapes being recorded (455 million albums) as there were recordings being sold (552 million 10 albums). Three years later, the data show that home sold in 1982 (466 million albums). 11 9 Audits & Surveys Report at 9. 10 Compare WCI Survey at 20 with "Manufacturers' Shipments of Records & Prerecorded Tapes, Billboard, June 25, 1983, at 70. 11 See "Manufacturers' Shipments of Records & Prerecorded Tapes, Billboard, June 25, 1983, at 70. וד 29-034 0-84-9 1980, the annual volume of music taped has increased By contrast, the number of recordings sold annually since 1980 (in album equivalents) has decreased by 16 percent. 12 13 Other studies confirm that home taping of music is growing. A survey conducted by CBS Records in 1979 found that 55 percent of the persons purchasing blank tape stated that they were engaging in more taping that year than they had in the previous year. Similarly, the WCI Survey found significant increases between 1977 and 1980 in the percentages of the population that had access to recording equipment, that bought blank tape, and that engaged in audio taping. 14 In light of the numerous studies that have now been done here and abroad, particularly the 1983 Audits & 12 See "Manufacturers' Shipments of Records & Prerecorded Tapes, Billboard, June 25, 1983, at 70. 13 CBS Records, "Blank Tape Buyers: Their Attitudes and Impact on Prerecorded Music Sales, at 10 (Fall 1980) [hereinafter cited as "CBS Survey"]. The CBS Survey has previously been submitted to this Committee. See 1981-82 Senate Hearings at 848-64. 14 WCI Survey at 4-6. |