AccuStream Research: Internet Music Radio in 4th Consecutive Year of Expansion.

MONTEREY, Calif. -- Internet music radio is on course to deliver another solid growth year in 2006, with total listening hours forecast to rise by 39.5%, and average quarter hour listeners already north of 700,000 for 3rd party measured networks.

Total listening hours for the top ten sites rose by 43.8% in 2005 on a per month basis, to 257.3 million (compared to 178.9 million in '04).

Hours grew by 53.2% in 2003 compared to 2002, a year which saw significant contraction in the market due to an advertising and investment slowdown, coupled with regulatory uncertainly over copyright fees.

The report, Internet Music Radio 2001 - 2006: Brands and the Beat Go On, published by AccuStream iMedia Research, also includes an analysis of pay streaming radio services, which have close to 2.4 million subscribers.

The report's sections are divided into years, with each year containing analysis of the market and segment's development, the top streaming music sites, trend data and historical comparisons.

Included is a section examining streaming music subscription services from AOL to Yahoo, with subscriber and revenue analysis.

Streaming Internet music radio revenue from subscriptions rose from $49 million in 2003 to $237 million in 2005 and is projected to surpass $340 million in 2006.

In 2005, similar to 2001 and 2002, brands own share. Unlike online video, however, over-the-air broadcast groups (i.e. Clear Channel and Susquehanna Broadcasting) inhabit an Internet music radio medium dominated by brands native to the environment, including AOL (AOL Radio, its MusicNow service and AOL's Shoutcast property), Real Networks' Rhapsody streaming and download service, Live365.com, Chaincast Networks, Yahoo Music Unlimited, Radioio, AccuRadio and MSN Radio.

Internet music radio is being built with brands, both in terms of sites and networks but also the artists themselves.

While online music services guide users in their search to discover new artists and music, and this differentiates the medium from linear or packaged counterparts, the vast majority of users migrate to what they already know and like; that leads to established brands and artists.

AccuStream iMedia Research (http://www.accustreamresearch.com) publishes research reports with detailed data analysis on streaming media, download media (music and video), CDN services, broadband user metrics, streaming advertising and subscription services.