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More Than One Third of Music Consumers Still Pirate Music (theguardian.com)

Posted by msmash on from the closer-look dept.

More than one-third of global music listeners are still pirating music, according to a new report by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI). From a report: While the massive rise in legal streaming platforms such as Spotify, Apple Music and Tidal was thought to have stemmed illegal consumption, 38% of listeners continue to acquire music through illegal means. The most popular form of copyright infringement is stream-ripping (32%): using easily available software to record the audio from sites like YouTube at a low-quality bit rate. Downloads through "cyberlocker" file hosting services or P2P software like BitTorrent came second (23%), with acquisition via search engines in third place (17%).

11 of 167 comments (clear)

  1. Does someone still believe their research? by NuclearCat · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Because it is extremely beneficial for them to put the situation in such a way , so it is easier to introduce new taxes, new draconian measures to restrict the rights to backup copies, to limit the ways of reproduction and etc.
    Their greed has no limits

    1. Re:Does someone still believe their research? by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Beat me to it. I was just about to post "Sounds like Made-up Statistics". I used to download music from piratebay, but not anymore. I get a ton of song in my Amazon Prime account, and if the song is not there, it's available from Youtube or Vimeo or some other legitimate source.

      > The most popular form of copyright infringement is stream-ripping (32%)... from sites like YouTube at a low-quality bit rate.

      So basically the modern version of Cassette-recording off the radio. Even if the stream-ripping was blocked, these people have NO intention of buying the music legally. Claiming these customers as "lost sales" is ridiculous. (Especially since many of them are children or teens with no money.)

      .

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re: Does someone still believe their research? by Thundercat007 · · Score: 3

      That's what I always laughed at with these industry people, claiming it's lost revenue. Especially with now crappy music/movies are now adays, it's a gamble if it's going to be worth buying. Newest movie on BluRay runs about $30 (Canadian) that's a bit gamble on a movie. Or $25 for a non pop star cd (again, gamble if it's a worthy cd). I've personally bought movies I've watched 100 times, because I've watched them 100 times. Same with cds I've listened to 100 times. If it came down to having to buy a movie @30 or cd @25 to see if I'll like it, I wouldn't buy it, I'd wait until a buddy had it, and borrow it. If I think it would join the 100 club then buy it. The time of quality things being produced, is gone.

  2. In other news by rsilvergun · · Score: 4, Interesting

    only 1/3 of music consumers still pirate music. Also, no $h!t Sherlock. Broke kids are always going to pirate. Let them. It gets them in the habit of listening to music when they're young. Without piracy they're going to grow up without it and not care when they're old enough to pay. That's how Metallica got their start; pirated mix tapes. Without them they'd be working at 7-11.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
    1. Re:In other news by commodore64_love · · Score: 3

      Also: A lot of people will buy "Greatest Hits" compilations of music they heard when they were children and teens.... mainly for nostalgia (or because they think current music sucks). IOW the record companies lose money today on pirating kids, but they make it up later, when they sell these adults old hits from 20-30 years ago.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  3. Duh by AvitarX · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Of course we do.

    I pay $10/month for a service, and side-load what's unavailable.

    Some of the side-loaded stuff isn't available anyway.

    --
    Wow, sent an e-mail as suggested when clicking on "use classic" banner, and got a fast response that addressed my msg
  4. Re:Why so low? by Comboman · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Or new music is crap and I already ripped/pirated everything I'll ever want to listen to decades ago.

    --
    Support Right To Repair Legislation.
  5. Re:Why so low? by alvinrod · · Score: 3, Insightful

    I generally don't bother to pirate most media anymore. I'm perfectly fine with paying for it, especially if I get a DRM-free digital copy or I get access to a streaming service that doesn't include any commercials. If you make it easy for consumers to pay for what they want (i.e. don't insist on bundling content with things I don't want) most people are more than willing to pay.

    As you get older, your time becomes more valuable and you have a higher income. Paying $5 on Amazon or Apple, or $10 a month for Netflix is ultimately less expensive than trying to a functional pirated stream somewhere else online or dredging through seedy websites to find warez that isn't a malware-infested mess.

  6. The biggest pirate of all is the Music industry by commodore64_love · · Score: 3

    Please take a moment to read this old article: "The plaintiffs (musicians) claimed compensation for use of work listed on what are known in the Canadian recording industry as pending lists. These lists, accumulated over many years, contain works for which no licence was obtained and no compensation paid........ the action could have been worth up to $6-billion."

    In other words the music industry owed 6 billion dollars to musicians for non-payment of songs they used w/o compensation. - LINK https://business.financialpost... And the followup: The record industry only paid 50 million of the 6000 million owed to artists: https://entertainment.slashdot...

    - The Music Industry wants to scold us commoners, and yet THEY are far worse at screwing the musicians than we are.

    --
    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  7. Moving the bar by MightyYar · · Score: 3, Insightful

    What kind of fools do they think we are? We've been taping stuff off of the radio since before I was born in the 70s. Now we listen to music through YouTube and "tape" off of that instead. Only in the mind of an IP lawyer is there some kind of moral distinction here. I'll do this until it is technically infeasible to do so, and I'll sleep just fine at night.

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    W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
  8. Piracy by darkain · · Score: 4, Informative

    Piracy is easier than dealing with DRM. End of story.