Government study proves illegal file sharing increases music sales
By Dave Parrack
A government study has proved what many of us have suspected for a long time, that illegal file sharing actually increases the number of CDs sold rather than reduces it.
The study was commissioned by Industry Canada, a ministry of the Canadian federal government.
It is called ‘The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study for Industry Canada‘, and was written by Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz, of the Department of Management at the University of London in England.
The pair surveyed over 2,000 Canadians on their music downloading and purchasing habits, and the results will be uncomfortable reading for the CRIA (Canadian Recording Industry Association) and the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) both of which have repeatedly denied the positive connections between downloads and physical purchases.
The most striking conclusion of the survey is that P2P file sharing does not actively harm the music industry in terms of sales, and in fact the opposite is true: It increases music sales.
The study claims that for every 12 P2P downloads, or one album, music purchasing increases by 0.44 CDs per year. Furthermore, about half of all P2P tracks are downloaded because individuals want to hear songs before buying them, not as copies intended to replace the need for making a purchase in the first place.
So it seems that the claims of recording industry organisations around the world as to how damaging illegal downloads are to their business are either plain wrong or at least being exaggerated.
Obviously industry lobbyists will be very quick to jump in to the debate and dismiss the study as insubstantial or inaccurate, but when a study by a government ministry tells them they are wrong, where are they going to take the argument next?
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November 5th, 2007
just so its clear, this study shows that the more you download the more you buy. among those surveyed that for every 12 songs shared via P2P there was an increase of .44 cds bought. over the entire country there is NO statistical difference caused by the sharing of music on P2P networks. now that still flies in the face of the cria’s claims. but your headline is a just a wee bit misleading.
November 10th, 2007
I once read a comment @ keiko matsui on a p2p site.
Found several of her songs on a p2p site.
I now own 13 of her albums.
Beating up on your customers is not a way to win friends and influence people.
You are a business only if you have customers,and the recording industry is no doubt loosing a lot of theirs.
December 22nd, 2007
Why then are all the music stores going bankrupt and closing? And why then would the entertainment industry have laid off thousands of workers in the last 5 years?
Studies can be bought, manipulated or twisted to achieve a desired conclusion. And a “government” study could mean a bunch of snotty nosed kids made a proposal to the right agency to fund their ‘brilliant” study. We all want free music, yes. But it’s amazing how creative we can be to justify our sometimes inappropriate behaviour.
December 22nd, 2007
what a bunch of baloney. everyone I know spends far less on music these days.