Portable Media Player Audience Balloons to 22 Million

Pew found that men are more likely to have iPods/MP3 players than women. Some 14% of men have the players, compared to 9% of women.

Almost one in five (19%) of those under age 30 have iPods/MP3 players. Fully 14% of those ages 30-39 have them; and 14% of younger Baby Boomers (ages 40-48) have them.

iPods/MP3 players are gadgets for the upscale. Fully a quarter (24%) of those who live in households earning more than $75,000 have them; 10% of those living in households earning $30,000 to $75,000 have them and 6% of those living in households earning less than $30,000 have them.

Those who use the internet are four times as likely as non-internet users to have iPods/MP3 players, probably because internet users can get much of the music they enjoy online. Fully 15% of internet users have iPods/MP3 players, compared to 4% of non-internet users. And the more advanced the internet user, the more likely it is that he has an iPod/MP3 player. Those with six years or more of internet experience are twice as likely to have them as those who are relative internet newbies (those with less than three years experience).

Broadband access is strongly associated with ownership of iPods/MP3 players. Some 23% of those with broadband at home have iPods/MP3 players, compared to 9% of those who have dialup connections. And those who have broadband access at home and at work, are the most likely of all to have iPods/MP3 players. Almost a third (31%) of those with broadband all around them have iPods/MP3 players.

16% of parents living with children under 18 in their home have iPods/MP3 players, compared to 9% of those who don’t have children living at home.

The nationwide phone survey involved 2,201 people and has a margin of error of plus or minus two percentage points.

Pew Internet