A survey commissioned by researchers Demos found that people who claim to have downloaded music illegally using peer-to-peer file sharing sites such as The Pirate Bay also spend on average £77 a year buying it legitimately. Those who claim not to on average just spend £44 (I’ll keep my opinion to myself…).
1008 people aged between 16 and 50 in the UK took part in the online poll.
Outcome:
- One in 10 of those questioned said they downloaded music illegally.
- Eight out of 10 of that group also bought CDs, vinyl and as MP3s.
- 50% accessed music officially
- 22% listened to internet radio
- 4% had used Napster (One of the founders of peer-to-peer file sharing)
- 21% have not heard of Napster
- 9% had used Spotify
- Most had not signed up for Spotify’s paid-for premium service.
How much would you pay?
- 75% of 16-24 year olds said they were prepared to pay for MP3s.
- The most favourable price was 45 pence for an individual track,
- Just 2% would pay more than £1.
Current chart topper Fight for this Love by Cheryl Cole is priced at £0.99 on Apple iTunes and £0.79 on Amazon in the UK.
Demos researcher Peter Bradwell said
Politicians and music companies need to recognise that the nature of music consumption has changed and consumers are demanding lower prices and easier access to music
These types of surveys are becoming very popular and need to be treated with caution. This particular survey backs the governments three-prong approach set out this week –
- education
- enforcement
- attractive new commercial deals
I don’t know how much of the results I believe as is it just coincidences that the results help back the governments’ recommendation?