BREAKING: Nerds With Disposable Income, Shiny Gadgets, And Lots Of Free Time More Likely To Buy Music Than Normal People

Twitter! It’s the new thing. It’s cutting out old middlemen! And introducing new ones! And now it’s serving as a predictor of whether or not people will plunge in and actually buy music, according to a brand-new study from the market researchers over at the NPD group, who are probably NPDing their pants at the prospect of getting mainstream media attention because they managed to shoehorn today’s social-networking media darling into their research.

A new NPD Group study finds that active Twitter users buy 77% more digital music downloads on average than non-users. Additionally, 12% of those who have bought music in the last three months also report having used Twitter, versus 8% of overall Web users. “Based on their music-purchasing history, active Twitter users are simply worth more to record labels and music retailers than those who are not using Twitter,” says NPD entertainment analyst Russ Crupnick. A third of all Twitter user reported buying a CD in the prior three months, and 34% reported buying music digitally, compared to 23% and 16% for overall Web users. Another one-third of Twitter users listened to music on a social networking site, 41% via online radio and 39% watched music videos online. Overall, they are twice as likely than average Web users to visit MySpace Music and Pandora.

So this study proves that people who use Twitter are more plugged in than the average Internet consumer. Not surprising, given that the number of active users of the service is kinda small, all things considered. But… no questions about illegal downloading? I mean, shoot, it’s not like Twitter makes any money, so we might as well see whether the no-revenue model crosses over into “meatspace.” I kind of wish this study had been kept on the back burner for a bit, because the last thing we need is for people on the Internet to get more self-aggrandizing and obnoxious about the utter righteousness bestowed on them simply because they have enough money to afford a broadband connection. Get ready for even more chest-thumping than there was when that dumb study about “pirates buying more music” came out!

Report: Twitter Users Buy More Music [Billboard] [Pic via Mashable]