User traffic to online music sharing site Napster has declined by 36% over the last two months, according to data from Nielsen//NetRatings. At the same time, usage of other, less well known file sharing sites, such as KaZaA, BearShare, Audiogalaxy and iMesh, has risen.
Nevertheless Napster retains its top spot amongst the all the file-swapping websites, with 2.6 million unique visitors, even after the 36% drop from more than 4 million eight weeks ago.
“Consumer interest in file-sharing sites is skyrocketing, in light of the recent restrictions placed on Napster. Traffic to Napster is dropping while other file-sharing sites are spiking in traffic,” said Jarvis Mak, senior internet analyst at NetRatings. “However, we’re finding that consumers are still willing to try the new Napster software, as nearly 16% of the site’s audience are visiting the software download page.”
| Traffic to file-sharing sites for the past eight weeks (US, from home) |
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| Site |
27-May |
15-Jul |
% Change |
| |
|
|
|
| Napster |
4,073,000 |
2,628,000 |
-35.5 |
| KaZaA |
179,000 |
433,000 |
141.9 |
| BearShare |
197,000 |
274,000 |
39.1 |
| Audiogalaxy |
534,000 |
707,000 |
32.4 |
| iMesh |
262,000 |
331,000 |
26.3 |
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|
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|
| Source: Nielsen//NetRatings |
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