Research: YouTube Bests iTunes For Music Attention

Only about 16 percent of consumers bought a digital download in the last three months, even though the format ranks top amongst formats they would pay for.

According to a posting by Robert Andrews at paidcontent.org, consumption is overwhelmingly taken up by online music videos, ahead of free/illegal downloads. That means, while iTunes Store remains labels’ biggest single recorded-music payout partner, the likes of YouTube (NSDQ: GOOG) and Vevo actually command most consumer attention in the form of music videos, from which labels nevertheless get paid an accompanying royalty.

Interestingly, music videos rank just behind digital downloads as the format listeners are next most likely to pay for.

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