Does Music Piracy Actually Stimulate Music Sales?

The music pirates that the music industry has been targetting for a decade are also their biggest customers, according to a new study.

The study, based on an Ipsos Mori poll, found that people who illegally download music from the Internet spend more money on music than anyone else. People who admit illegally downloading music spent an average of £77 a year on music – £33 more than those who never download music illegally.

"The latest approach from the Government will not help prop up an ailing music industry," said Peter Bradwell, from the study sponsor Demos. "Politicians and music companies need to recognise that the nature of music consumption has changed, and consumers are demanding lower prices and easier access."

Unfortunately, the survey results seem to support both sides of the music piracy argument:

• The music industry can argue that music piracy is replacing music purchases among their most important customers, hardcore music fans.
• P2P advocates can argue that music sharing exposes people to music they might not have otherwise tried, leading to higher sales.

What do you think? Does music piracy actually increase music sales?

via The Independent

Image of Boofy the pirate by EssjayNZ

James Lewin
Twitter @podcasting_news

Yes and no; its just like anything--its the same game with different rules.

Music companies need to adapt to the new rules and understand that illegal pirating CAN lead to an increase in sales.

Remember, society is based on the principal that civil conduct over scarce resources is a far better game than a brutal pursuit of the right to exist.

With this in mind--I would encourage music companies to stop believing that anarchy is truly a motivating factor behind piracy and start opening their eyes to the possibilities that increased access allows their ears that have never been accessible before.

Get your thumbs out of your arses

02-Nov-09 10:38 AM

Well, you can make numbers say anything in a study. It's pretty natural that big music consumers will eventually buy more music than people who don't buy much music in the first place. Someone who's not inclined to buy a lot of CDs because just listening to the radio fills his/her music needs won,t be the person who downloads illegal music.

What you could say is that people who buy a lot of CDs but download a lot of illegal music also would have to pay more money to fullfill their needs if they decided to be legit. Because i buy more watches every year than the average joe doesn't give me the right to go in a jewelery store and steal one!!!

02-Nov-09 01:42 PM

Music fans are used to purchasing music with a certain budget. Under the last model, us avid music fans got REAL tired of spending our hard earned cash on music that turned out to be crap. If I had paid for the Ting Tings album, I'd be pissed that there were 2 good songs on the whole thing. Now, we can download music for free which leads us to better understand the artists we are interested in without wasting all of our spending money. Or leftover disposable income still goes to music, it just no longer goes to $hi+ music. I still spend money on cd's, t-shirts, and shows of the bands I love. But I no longer have to support advertising generated hype bands. Thank god for and long live downloading!

02-Nov-09 08:12 PM

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