Blog # 5
We all know
that piracy is illegal, but how much does it really hurt the digital
entertainment industry? This is one of the many topics involving piracy that we
are all curious about, but have not yet been able to determine. One recent
study by the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies showed that as of
now piracy “does not displace digital sales.”
The internet
habits of 16,000 Europeans were recently examined and showed that many of the
songs that the Europeans downloaded illegally would not have been purchased had
the illegal downloading sites not been available. While this is still stealing
it does not financially hurt artists in the entertainment industry. The study
determined that people who would download music illegally were still likely to
purchase other music legally. It was also determined that people who did not
download music illegally were less likely to buy music.
A counter
intuitive theory that was brought up by this survey was the idea that piracy
could actually help artists sell albums. This study surprising showed a link
between illegal downloads and increased purchasing of music legally. The
idea was that people who were able to
sample music by a certain artist would then
be able to decide if they liked the music enough to purchase the whole
entire album or other works of the artist. The study succeeded in showing a two
percent increase in legal sales for every ten percent increase in clicks on
illegal downloads. In the countries of France, and the United Kingdom there was
a four percent increase in sales while Spain and Italy saw no change in sales.
This survey
has many limitations such as only providing information on digital sales and
not physical sales possibly differentiated buying patterns of Europeans in
comparison with the rest of the world, and an ever changing entertainment
industry. We will never know all the affects piracy has had on the
entertainment industry but is it possible that piracy could help the
entertainment industry in some ways?
Works Cited
Steadman, Ian. "Another Study Finds Music Piracy
'does Not Displace Digital Sales'" Wired UK. Wired Magazine, 21 Mar.
2013. Web. 28 Sept. 2013.
http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-03/21/music-piracy-doesnt-hurt-sales
It's hard to believe that illegal music Internet downloads have little to no affect on the music industry's bottom line. The downloads equate to millions of dollars. Even if you assume only a small percentage would actually purchase the music if it wasn't available to download the amount is significant.
ReplyDeleteI may or may not be guilty of using file sharing programs in the past. I don't think piracy hurts record companies or popular artists as much as it does emerging artists. If I really want to support the band or artist then I will purchase the song or album. As a musician myself I understand the anti piracy laws in place and would take issue if someone were to share the ownership of my intellectual property with others.
ReplyDeleteI agree. Taking money out of the pockets of popular artists is not a good thing, but doing it to emerging artists is significantly worse. The law usually does not seem to differentiate between the two but as people we do. Stealing from a Wal-Mart is something that is also not morally right, but is significantly better than stealing from a small mom and pop grocery store.
ReplyDeleteSomething to also take into consideration is that sales from music is not their only source of income, they get money from concerts, endorcements, contracts with music labels, etc. so I could see how it doesn't have a huge impact on artists and the industry. Also the study stated that the people who downloaded songs illegally didn't have any intention of buying the songs anyway.
ReplyDeleteIt is true that many artists will be affected via piracy. However, everything has two sides: better-off and worse-off. Some people think that if there is a fee for each downloading a music, there is less people willing to pay, but if it is downloaded easily (but illegal), many people will be able to get it; therefore, the artist will be more popular...How do you think?
ReplyDeleteDinh I think both are correct rising fees and prices probably cause people to be unwilling to buy music, if we want to hear our favorite songs we have YouTube and other sources to listen to our music for free so there is no need. However I could also see the other side and how if the music is free and easily available it could quite possibly lead to the artist growing in popularity, I just really think it depends on the consumer.
DeleteAlthough I believe that there are some people who will turn to buy legal songs or albums if they like the songs they download illegally, I don't think their purchase can offset the loss from illegal downloading.
ReplyDeleteEven if piracy has positive effect to promote artists' income, we can't affirm piracy, just like we still won't allow high school students to cheat in SAT test if that will increase the average score of the high school.
You are correct not everyone who illegally downloads music will completely write off buying songs in the future, while their purchase may not offset the loss it definitely helps and is a step in the right direction.
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