Illegal music downloads hit record levels in UK
Ahoy matey! Thar be pirates on thee Internets!
From a sample of more then 1,700 people, an astounding 43 percent of all respondents had downloaded unauthorised content while 58 percent had purchased at least one legal download. These numbers are up from their respective 2006 figures of 36 percent and 50 percent.
The top reason given by 91 percent of all illegal music downloaders (like this wasn't obvious) was ”It's free.”
Ownership of personal music players, such as Apple's iPod and Microsoft's Zune, is up to a whopping 77 percent this year compared to 57 percent last year and 37 percent in 2005.
Pirated music downloads increased throughout all age demographics with the 45+ age group responding with 24 percent saying that they had downloaded music illegally.
With people becoming less concerned about being caught and facing legal actions (33 percent this year compared to 40 percent last year), it seems that this will be an ever increasing trend amongst everyone unless the record industry listens more to the consumers and gives a better value per pound spent.
Have your downloads from P2P clients increased this year or do you stay away from doing such activities? Would you be more willing to purchase music downloads it there was lower pricing? Let us know in the forums or in the comments section below.
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21 Comments
Discuss in the forums ReplyIt's really simple guys, allofmp3.com proved this.. now follow suit.
kthxbye
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...
:D Interesting choice of wording!
Not really a viable business model for a healthy music industry, better described as "asset-stripping".
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.
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.
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.
What he said :D
QFT
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.
No. 43% admitted to it.
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!
pedant
Amount should be number.
/pedant
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.
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 CDs 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, Ill 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 Id have done exactly what youre doing without any hesitation. ;)
Sadly, things wont change for the consumer until the big cheeses start changing things at the helm of the music industry. :(