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Canadian Record Industry Disputes Own P2P Claims

CRIAWatch writes "The Canadian Recording Industry Association has quietly issued a new study that contradicts many of its own claims about the impact of P2P usage on the music industry. Michael Geist summarizes the 144 page study by noting that the research 'concludes that P2P downloading constitutes less than one-third of the music on downloaders' computers, that P2P users frequently try music on P2P services before they buy, that the largest P2P downloader demographic is also the largest music buying demographic, and that reduced purchasing has little to do with the availability of music on P2P services.'"

3 of 174 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Fault by ozmanjusri · · Score: 5, Informative
    The most mindnumbing about the whole RIAA/MPAA debacle is how they keep blaming their diminishing sales on the consumers

    Yep, when people were actually asked why they weren't buying more music, the greatest factors were:

    • price (16%)
    • nothing of interest (14%)
    • lack of time (13%)
    • collection is big enough (9%)

    In other words, all the music industry needs to do to make more sales is to sell an interesting product, at a price the market will bear.
    Their customer-hate behaviour has been so destructive, musicians contracted to RIAA member companies should initiate class action lawsuits to recover income lost to these inane tactics.

    --
    "I've got more toys than Teruhisa Kitahara."
  2. Just ask the actual ARTISTS and you get the same.. by Jugalator · · Score: 4, Informative
    This may be some interesting reading about this matter.
    "Across the board, among those who are both successful and struggling, the artists and musicians we surveyed are more likely to say that the internet has made it possible for them to make more money from their art than they are to say it has made it harder to protect their work from piracy or unlawful use. "
    --
    Beware: In C++, your friends can see your privates!
  3. Re:It's... well... what... by Dashing+Leech · · Score: 4, Informative
    "What was stated isn't surprising."

    What the article didn't state makes it even more emphatic. In Canada it is legal to download music via P2P. So all the stuff about P2P in this study refers to legal downloading, and still it isn't harming the recording industry like they say and still people buy music with a legally free alternative. (I say "free", but really we pay a levy on recordable media to compensate, so it's really a legally "already paid for" alternative.) I think that says even more.