48 percent of teens bought zero CDs in 2007

The writing's on the wall for physical media and music: Nearly half of all teens, widely considered the most-desired demographic for media consumption, didn't buy a single compact disc in 2007. Not one.

In 2006, that figure was 38 percent, and in one year it shot to 48 percent. The downloadable music revolution—whether legal or otherwise—is well underway, and there's really no turning back at this point. Need more proof? Apple iTunes is now the second largest retailer of music, following retail giant Wal-Mart.

The data, from market researcher NPD Group, surveyed 5,000 shoppers about their music consumption habits. Among their other discoveries: 29 percent of people buy music online now (up from 21 percent), with legal purchases most common in the 36- to 50-year-old demographic, where iTunes is seen as a convenience issue to avoid having to rip CDs to their computer and then load them onto their iPod. Kids buy single tracks for an obvious reason: They just want the hits, and they don't want the rest of the junk on the album.

As for piracy? Looks like it's actually headed up: Paid music made up only 42 percent of music obtained in 2007, down from 48 percent in 2006 and 50 percent in 2005. However, only 19 percent of people were actually sharing music on P2P and other illegal networks.

The LA Times story linked above has plenty of additional fun facts and some equally enlightening quotes from teens about how totally hosed this industry is about to get.

LINK: More teenagers ignoring CDs, report says