Use of digital music players is growing among youths, with more than half of those naming iPod as their brand of choice, according to the results of a new study. NPD analyst Anita Frazier, who recently contucted a study called “Kids and Digital Content,” said that “the average age of first use of portable digital music players has declined over the last three years.” According to the study, 31 percent of kids aged 6-10 now use digital music players, and 54 percent of those use an iPod.
A majority of those users said they use an iPod nano. Youths aged 2 to 14 who own music players have an average of 125 songs, 10 TV shows and 15 movies on their device, Frazier said.
“By third grade, half of the kid population in grade school has an MP3 player,” said Paul Metz, senior VP at C&R Research. Several factors are said to contribute to the proliferation of the players among youths, including hand-me-downs from older family members, more lower-priced, kid-friendly players, and kids’ desire to be more like adults.
