Illegal music downloads hit record levels in UK

lower prices = more purchases.
It's really simple guys, allofmp3.com proved this.. now follow suit.

kthxbye

Music... Its going to be public property (i guess it allready is). Times are changing. They must invent a new thing what people want to buy and cd's are not 'it' anymore. Today its I-Pod and you get the music for free with it. Instead of fighting the flow. They need to let go and go with it.

Recordcompanys should invest in big good concerts all over the globe and make money from that. Selling cd's is like giving away "copy me and spread the content" presents...

It's a tricky one this. Downloading media free from P2P sights has become so common place that it will be virtually impossible to stamp it out. With broadband speeds ever increasing, it's quicker than ever to download illegal content. The situation can only get worse for the music Industry.

Originally Posted by BioSniper
...allofmp3.com proved this.. now follow suit.

:D Interesting choice of wording!

It isn't just music that is highly priced and is being downloaded...

My problem with most pay-for music downloads is that they're all in a losst format, which just doesn't make sense to me, especially considering that often there is virtually no price difference between the downloads and finding a good price on the CD.

Originally Posted by BioSniper
lower prices = more purchases.
It's really simple guys, allofmp3.com proved this.. now follow suit.

Erm...just how many albums do allofmp3 actually create? Their "business model" is to steal from the producers and charge the consumers, win-win for them but it doesn't put new albums on the player.

Not really a viable business model for a healthy music industry, better described as "asset-stripping".

Originally Posted by Mister_Tad
My problem with most pay-for music downloads is that they're all in a losst format, which just doesn't make sense to me, especially considering that often there is virtually no price difference between the downloads and finding a good price on the CD.

I agree. I don't want to pay for a download that is either laced with DRM, embedded personal info or lower format quality. When I buy a music, it's mine and I can use it however I see fit -- by that I mean on any audio device I own, be it cd, dvd, mp3, pc, ipod, etc. This of course does not give me the right to give it away for free.

Originally Posted by cpemma
Erm...just how many albums do allofmp3 actually create? Their "business model" is to steal from the producers and charge the consumers, win-win for them but it doesn't put new albums on the player.

Not really a viable business model for a healthy music industry, better described as "asset-stripping".

But that wasnt his point was it? AllofMP3 was used to make a point about price, if its cheap it will sell, thus bringing people away from P2P and not as you put it a statement on good business ethics.

Unless someone does something about the ludicrous prices for electronica albums, then I see some music downloads merited. I just paid over 50 dollars for two downtempo albums last month (one disc apiece)...

Hmmm....

Article 1: More illegal downloads than ever!
Article 2: More legal downloads than ever!

Conclusion: More people consuming downloaded music.

To complete the set, we need an article to state that less CDs are being sold than ever, and a corresponding one stating that CD copying is also down.

For the record, I'd never purchased anything from allofmp3.com nor had I downloaded any illegal music via P2P. Until this week.

I bought Monster by The Automatic (Mp3) for my 3 yr old (she has some good taste) from Woolworths.com but following a rebuild, the DRM-crippled file no longer runs. Woollies refused to respond to my emails.

And on Sunday, some pikey little manc smashed the passenger window on my car and liberated my Tomtom, my daughters portable DVD (complete with Singing Kettle DVD) and my wallet of CDs.

So since Monday I've been downloading the stuff I'm missing (in a lossless format where possible) from various torrent sources. Technically illegal, but I have absolutely no qualms about it at all. On the one hand, I might be unlucky for having stuff stolen, but the bigger crime is the crippling of my legally downloaded music.

Originally Posted by Edenalig
But that wasnt his point was it? AllofMP3 was used to make a point about price, if its cheap it will sell, thus bringing people away from P2P and not as you put it a statement on good business ethics.

What he said :D

Originally Posted by BioSniper
lower prices = more purchases.
It's really simple guys, allofmp3.com proved this.. now follow suit.

kthxbye

QFT

Allofmp3/MP3Sparks, despite their legal wobbles, does reveal what consumers want. Cheap downloads that are DRM free. Paying $15-20 for a CD with 2 decent tracks and no extras? DIAF on that one. I happily pay for the 2 decent tracks by themselves however...

I think the main problem is that there is nothing to make people want to buy music online...

In the past you could get music online illegally, but go to the shops to get better quality legal music with some nice packaging.

Nowadays, you're actually punished for buying the music, as it's lower quality and generally riddled with DRM.

When you're looking at something thats free and superior quality with no restrictions, vs a product that costs money, has lower quality and is also restricted, it's a no-brainer that people will generally take the first option

remove drm, bump up the quality and lower the price... online music would suddenly explode and most likely make more money.

"From a sample of more then 1,700 people, an astounding 43 percent of all respondents had downloaded unauthorised content"

No. 43% admitted to it.

Makes me wish that record companies were more like the smaller bands, who do it for the enjoyment of good music, not for profit.

Of course if that were the case they may come to the realisation that if their acts were any good they'd need to do very little in the way of promoton, as the music will speak for itself, and spend much less time "cleaning up" their tracks, effectively making them pretty pointless in their jobs. Scrap record companies!

Originally Posted by Tim
Amid an ever increasing amount of lawsuits in the US, UK citizens are downloading more unauthorised music then ever before.

pedant

Amount should be number.

/pedant

Originally Posted by capnPedro
"From a sample of more then 1,700 people, an astounding 43 percent of all respondents had downloaded unauthorised content"

No. 43% admitted to it.

QFT, anyone that listens to more than the odd track and says they havn't downloaded some music thats... shall we say less than legal? is probably lying.

If someone had a service like AllOfmp3 where I could download any song for no more than $0.50 with no drm and I would buy heaps of stuff. At the moment I don't buy anything. The only time I have bought music online the restrictions ended up anoying me enough that I bought a copy of the CD so that I could rip it.

Firstly, I'm not sure if surveying 1700 out of 60 million gives you a particularly accurate representation. I realise that they have a sample from each age group but come on....

That aside, I'll give the reasons I don't purchase music online. Notice I said "online".

I completely agree with mmorgue.

If I buy something, regardless of what it is, then I want to be able to do with it as I please. Whether that means copying it from PC to flash memory to take to work, to my ipod (or other music device) or to NAS backup array then I should be able to do so when and as many times as I please.
I want the quality to be the best possible (at least equal to or greater than CD) - i.e. a lossless format and it should have no DRM whatsoever, or include any personal information or be identifiable to me in any way.
Online music prices also need to be drastically reduced inline with the setup costs for an album (digital music distribution costs a fair bit less than producing CD's, album artwork, traditional distribution, etc).

These are my terms of purchasing music online and until companies realise that the current business model is outdated, inflexible and removes control from the consumer, then I will continue to not purchase music online.
I am quite happy to continue buying CD's for as long as they are available, though I also am a little peeved at the price of electronica CD's (Amon, I feel your pain too! :( ).

The record companies could do so well if they just sat up and listened.

Think if they did the above then those who were downloading illegal music might convert to buying the music instead and supporting the artists more. Such expensive CD’s could be no more if they made the content available online in lossless quality at a reasonable price with no DRM. Notice I said "might". If things stay as they are then the problem will only become exacerbated.

I admit I have a large amount of illegally downloaded music, and have done for years. I first started it when I was a student and couldn't afford to buy music as regularly as I used to but now I have a job I buy the CD's of the favourite albums I've downloaded.
I also download new albums illegally to see if they are any good. Give me a week to listen to it enough and if I like it, I’ll buy the CD, otherwise DELETE.

I just hope that the UK government doesn't go the route of the RIAA and start suing everyone.

I sincerely doubt this will happen though as there would be a severe backlash from the public if old Granny Smith down the road got sued £5000 for allegedly downloading some illegal Marilyn Manson etc. etc.

Besides, if they started suing left right and centre, just watch how many people cut their broadband speeds back to the minimum and watch the bottom fall of the broadband market in the UK..... goodbye Broadband Britain! :)

cjmUK – I feel for you mate – I’d have done exactly what you’re doing without any hesitation. ;)

Sadly, things won’t change for the consumer until the big cheeses start changing things at the helm of the music industry. :(