Nearly three-quarters (73 percent) of college students have downloaded music from the Internet. The majority (61 percent) have downloaded up to 100 files. Another 23 percent have downloaded between 101 and 500 files. The remaining 16 percent have accumulated extensive libraries ranging from 501 to more than 1,000 music files.

Why are so many students downloading music from the Internet? A total of 72 percent do it to listen to music directly from their computer, 44 percent claim CDs cost too much money and 41 percent want to hear music from new or unknown artists.

More than a third (35 percent) make custom CDs with their music downloads. Nearly 90 percent acknowledge recording homemade CDs is "in" on campus.

Some colleges have imposed restrictions on Napster usage. Nearly a fifth (18 percent) of respondents indicate their school has imposed restrictions on Napster usage, 47 percent of students' schools do not restrict Napster and 35 percent do not know of any Napster restrictions at their school.

"How college students feel about downloading music gives the industry and the artists a glimpse of what the future holds in this complicated relationship between available technology and copyright law," said Rudy Nadilo, president and CEO of Greenfield Online.

About The Study

The 120-page study of 1,135 students, drawn from an online research panel of 30,000 four-year-college students recruited by Greenfield Online and YouthStream Media Networks, is part of an on-going tracking study conducted quarterly during the academic year. The study was conducted online between May 12 and June 9, 2000. The survey results have been weighted in terms of gender and region to represent the national four-year college population.

About YouthStream Media Networks

YouthStream Media Networks is the only omnimedia company serving the young adult market through its online and offline family of holdings. Founded in 1994, YouthStream's multimedia brands span a spectrum of fully integrated but distinct properties, including an online networking community with more than three million subscribers called sixdegrees.com; the only digital electronic network of cinemas featuring advance screenings of major motion pictures that reaches more than 1 million students at universities across the U.S.; an event promotions company with access into 600 of the nation's largest campuses; the country's leading college newspaper advertising placement service; the highest-circulation magazine in the collegiate marketplace reaching more than 650 college campuses; the largest free postcard advertising brand and circulation in the nation; the top seller of posters to the collegiate market; the biggest and oldest network of on-campus wallboards; and the nation's only college online research service. In all, over 7,000 high schools and 2,000 colleges across the U.S. rely on the YouthStream omnimedia family for educational, informational and promotional material. For more information about YouthStream, please contact Lisa Schwartz at 212-375-2620.

About Greenfield Online

Greenfield Online, Inc. is a totally Internet-enabled, full-service marketing research provider. The company's core business is to conduct custom consumer and business-to-business online studies that are faster, better and richer than traditional marketing research. Incorporated in 1995, Greenfield Online is headquartered in Wilton, Conn., with satellite offices in San Francisco. For additional information about Greenfield Online and its services, please call Mark Fusco at 203-846-5778 or visit the company's website at http://www.greenfield.com.

SOURCE: Greenfield Online, Inc.