Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised!

For several years now we have continually refined and enhanced the IF Music kiosk and service as leading retailers, service providers and the music industry have continued to visit us and express their enthusiasm and ideas for IF. We have made no secret of our surprise at this outpouring of excitement and we are eternally grateful to everyone who is involved.
Our own research had certainly validated the IF Music concept but almost daily new surveys are released that examine and confirm the driving forces that have come together to benefit everyone involved with IF Music. As just a few examples:

The Kaiser Family Foundation survey of young people from 8 to 18 years old reports that digital media absolutely dominates kid’s waking hours. When they are not in school, young Americans are spending nearly every waking hour absorbed in entertainment media on mobile phones, MP3 players, and other consumer electronics, a study released on January 20th showed. The amount of time young Americans spend on entertainment media through cell phones, MP3 players, and other mobile devices has risen to an average of 7 hours and 38 minutes a day, according to the survey which is conducted every five years. However, because young people often use more than one medium at a time, they actually managed to pack a total of 10 hours and 45 minutes worth of media content into those 7.5 hours.
Driving media consumption is the ready access to mobile devices. Ownership of such gadgets has increased since 2004 from 39% to 66% for mobile phones and from 18% to 76% for MP3 players. As a result, young people now spend more time listening to tunes, playing games, and watching TV on their mobile phones than they spend talking on them.

While this may come as no surprise to many parents we think the following survey from the United Kingdom will validate what many music lovers of all ages might expect:

People who illegally download music spend more on official releases than anyone else, according to a new survey.
The study, published today by think-tank Demos, found those who admit to file sharing spent an average £77 a year on singles and albums - £33 more than those who claim never to have wrongly accessed music for free.
Researcher Peter Bradwell said the findings should force companies and politicians to 'wake up to the changing nature' of the music industry as the Government plans to disconnect illegal downloaders from the internet in a 'three strikes and you're out' rule.
An estimated seven million UK users download files illegally every year, which will cost the industry £200million in 2009, according to trade association, the British Phonographic Industry.
Artists Lily Allen and James Blunt recently voiced support for the Government plans, while Latin pop star Shakira claims illegal file sharing brings her closer to her fans.
The survey also revealed nearly two thirds of file sharers said new and cheaper music services would encourage them to stop accessing illegal services. It found that by lowering the price of music available online to 45p per track - compared to between 59p and 99p on iTunes - providers could expect to double interest in legal sales.
Eight-three per cent of people downloading music illegally said they buy more music as a result, while 42 per cent said they did so to 'try before you buy'.
But the Government is pressing ahead with plans for harsher punishments to act as a deterrent.
A Digital Economy Bill is expected to be introduced to parliament later this month, with its draft promising to create a 'robust legal and regulatory framework to combat illegal file sharing'.

Fortunately the British government are not alone is their zeal to combat illegal music downloading:

US ISP Verizon has confirmed that some customers have been booted off its broadband service for multiple copyright infringement offences.
“We’ve cut some people off,” spokeswoman Bobbi Henson tells CNET. “We do reserve the right to discontinue service. But we don’t throttle bandwidth like Comcast was doing. Verizon does not have bandwidth caps.” Meanwhile, Henson says that sending warning emails to customers accused of illegally downloading has been effective.
“We’ve found that we don’t have to warn most people a second time. Most people stop. Or they tell whoever is doing it to stop… You get a teenager doing it, and the parent gets the e-mail, and they tell them to cut it out.”

These are just a few of the many, many factors that explain why a whimsical device that downloads music in social settings nationwide, advertises for both self promotion and profit, and offers a choice of a myriad of other services from ticketing to education is rapidly sweeping the country.

Maybe we shouldn’t be so surprised after all!