36% of all music downloads were purchased with a gift card, according to the survey. “Music gifting is not just about festively wrapped CDs anymore, now that music consumers can now purchase iTunes, Rhapsody or Spotify Gift Cards at Target, Walmart, and other big-box stores," said Russ Crupnick, senior vice president of industry analysis at NPD.
Age Of Buyers
One quarter of consumers who intend to give music as a gift were between the ages of 18 and 34. According to Crupnick, “the widely held belief that younger music listeners no longer value traditional music-buying formats appears to be moot, at least when it comes to holiday gift giving."
Impulse Buys Important
Impulse shopping remains important when it comes to sales of CDs and digital downloads, and that's where music really benefits from holiday shopping traffic. 26% of CD purchases were driven by impulse and 16% by in-store browsing. Walmart shoppers were most likely to purchase music on impulse (32% of Walmart's CD sales). 25% of Amazon CD buyers also reported that they purchased CDs on impulse, along with 22% of digital music download purchasers.
