Study finds the youth harm music sales in long term with P2P

30 Nov 05 00:39 by Seán Byrne in category Uncategorized To news archive

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Even though there has been some research finding that file sharing has either a little or a possitive effect on music sales, according to a recent study by Jupiter Research, around 15% of consumers use file sharing services to obtain music without purchase, where as only 5% of consumers use legal download services. The statistics get worse for the younger generation with 34% of those aged from 15 to 24 using file sharing services to obtain music without paying for it.

As P2P file sharing technology is only a couple of years old, so far it is mainly the youth who are using them, however as these consumers grow older, they will likely keep up their habits which will affect the recording industry over the long term. Jupiter research also compares trying to stop illegal file sharing in the same way as trying to stop virus writers, even though both are considered a crime. So no matter how much legal pressure the record labels put on illegal file sharing, it will always remain.

While most of the young generation are well aware of the legal issues of file sharing, apparently their main reason for continuing to download illegally is due to it being much simpler than actually buying the music. If one wants to purchase it on CD, they must either physically go out to buy it or order it online and wait for it to arrive. While legal download services overcome this, most still require a credit card and most teenagers don’t have one of these, never mind the process of going out buying vouchers to buy music online, such as for Napster.

src="http://www.cdfreaks.com/contentimages/newsimages/1119911838" align=right border=0
>The scourge of record companies remains file sharing. It comes as no surprise free songs are better than the ones people pay for, particularly to teenagers. A recent study by Jupiter Research confirmed that fact and that it’s unlikely to change anytime in the near future. This doesn’t bode well for the future of record companies.

The study, done in Europe, showed consumers are three times more likely to go for the illegal downloads instead of the paid ones with about 15% going for the peer-to-peer downloads and 5% digging the legal stuff.

Also not surprising are teenagers doing the p2p downloads more. 34% of the 15-24 age group admitted to sharing music online without paying for it. Not good for record companies.

Mark Mulligan, an analyst from Jupiter said, “The digital youth of today are being brought up on a near limitless diet of free and disposable music from file-sharing networks.

While casual CD copying piracy is still another issue,
consumers have copied music all the way back to the early days of cassette
recorders. In fact, copying tapes was so straight forward that pretty much
anyone who could play a tape could also copy one with a dual-cassette
recorder. With CDs, this is not that straight forward for novice PC users,
not to mention creating custom compilation CDs.

However, as the record labels are now trying to put all sorts of anti-piracy measures on their CDs, they are effectively making matters worse when it comes to file sharing. If one decides to buy CDs instead of downloading their music, they lose flexibility and those with iPods are unable to carry their music with them, which they could do with downloaded music. Sony’s use of XCP showed what a clear example of what happens when anti-piracy measures go too far.

Feel free to discuss about file sharing and related legal issues on our Music Download, Peer to Peer (P2P) & Legal Issues forum.

Source: SecurityProNews

12 Comments

freonchill: Posts: 73; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 01:11

and this is a surprise to anyone? any teenager who either doesnt have a drivers license or doesnt have a car (or some other easy transportation to the store that doesnt include their parents) it going to download anyway possible (once again, that doesnt require their parents) b/c it (look for the pattern here: doesnt require their parents) but what can you expect, when most teenagers cant get a decent paying job w/out working @ a fast food restaurant before the age 18 (due to laws and such, 20hr max work week for people below 18 years of age) they arent going to be able to make enough money to pay for any media anyway

heystoopid: Posts: 307; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 04:25

As with all statistics, data can be manipulated to fit any argument one chooses! As for SONY BMG, their activity, regarding the XCP rootkit security nightmare windows virus/trojan malware, is now under formal investigation by no less than, the New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer(source Business Week online 29th Novemebr 2005). Now , since Eliot, has had two direct strikes for 1/ deliberately delayed cd royalty payments to recording artists; 2/ Illegal Payola, by the use of recording artists royalty payments to directly bribe radio DJ's to play their music cd's on air(USD$10 million fine in July). Oh well, what a shame these pesky statistics still can't take my dog for a walk! :X

shuma02: Posts: 72; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 08:38

I used statistics to create maps, it can be manipulated any way possible to best describe the exact point you're trying to make. But that doesn't matter, what matters is that I am almost out of the youth bracket, 15-24, damn, my 23 is borderline adult... NOOOO!!!

DJKrugger: Posts: 2; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 10:32

I'm not under 18, and i used to buy lots of CDs and DVDs, since i feel that is my way to pay those artists that i like, but since all this crap of the DRM and copyprotection i started to spank them, when i read that a DVD is copy protected I'M NOT GOING TO BUY IT! i just download it , same for the CDs if i have it already i will make free copies for my fellas and seed its content. I ASK EVERYONE TO DO THIS SO THE GREEDY HEADS IN THE MPAA AND RIAA WILL LEARN THAT WE ARE THE ONES WHO PAY THEIR BREAD!!!

Alexandre: Posts: 72; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 13:30

That's why the world changes. Joseph Conrad wrote in Youth- "O youth! The strength of it, the faith of it, the imagination of it!"

Roj: Posts: 434; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 14:10

Let's for one minute assume that the survey is genuine and not a shill paid for by the RIAA. What does it tell us? It's quite simple and abundantly clear: The old days are gone and so is the old paradigm. A paradigm shift has occurred and the genie is out of the bottle - permanently. All who follow will think differently and any attempts to enforce the old way will inevitably fail. Miserably. The record companies can no longer expect the vast profits and limitless control of the media that they once had and are losing customers because of it. So what should happen? Well, years ago, the Swiss watchmakers refused to acknowledge the digital watch. They clung steadfastly to the old ways and old ideas. They refused to accept change. And they went out of business. Lesson: change with the times, find new ways to entice (not strongarm, such as is the case with DRM measures, lobbied legislation and lawsuits) customers and compete or you'll die. Accept the fact that file sharing is a permanent condition and come to terms with that. As one example, use it as an advertising tool to attract new customers. I wonder how long it's going to take those greedy dinosaurs to get the point? Extinction teaches lessons quickly.

yronnen: Posts: 69; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 17:09

OK, let's be honest for a sec. Forget the lack of driving license, the need to go and purchase vouchers and other excuses. Youth are downloading mp3s because they are free and because they can do it. I'm not justifying Sony and other corporates for their aggressuve behaviour, but let's be honest with ourselves... When I was a younger I used to work to buy myself CDs and sometimes even made my parents buy me some. The problem is that the price of CDs went up since then. But the problem is not the price of CDs, but the price of living. I pay much more for food, gas (of course), cables, cell phone and other stuff that I was told is vital to my existence in the modern world; income, however, did not went up too much. I don't have much left for CDs anymore. And that's the truth for many other people and for many other parents who cannot allow themselves to buy their kids few CDs every month. So the simple way is to download. I'm sure that if CDs will be cheaper or cost of living will go down, there will still be some piracy (always has been), but not in today's magnitude.

themushroom: Posts: 188; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 21:35

It's fairly easy to measure this metric since youth are the primary market for the music industry. But we still have to take the numbers with a grain of salt, because somehow I don't see the music industry crumbling into dust because it only (only?!) made 1.2 billion dollars rather than 1.3 billion.

DJ Specs: Posts: 45; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 21:56

Ya.. I held a study that said the record industry is full of corruption.. Man, all these polls and studies are totally fake. Just like the music countdowns on radio stations. They are all fake, and they are often made 3 days in advance when the music director programs that days music. How do I know? I worked in radio for several years.. and even here in Canada, the record companies bribed us with free stuff to make their artists appear higher in the chart.

aradian: Posts: 18; Posted on: 30 Nov 05 22:49

If you like your artist and feel compelled not to rip them off, then purchase their merchandise at their concerts. This way you are leaving those immoral, leeching, lying record companies out of the loop. Besides your artist may get $1 at the most from a CD if you did buy their CD. So boycott these multinationals. Only then will their delusions of godhood and bullying disappear!

twit: Posts: 51; Posted on: 01 Dec 05 14:33

Where's the link to the original article? The quoted passage doesn't say squat, so the value of this "news item" is pretty much null in it's current state.

twit: Posts: 51; Posted on: 01 Dec 05 14:36

Ah, found the link now, sneaky place to hide it

The article does in no way show that p2p harms the music industry, so the headline is quite silly though

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