Yet another study here folks confirming the results of an earlier one that suprised many in the music industry.
http://torrentfreak.com/piracy-boosts-cd-sales-071103/University of London researchers, Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz surveyed a large group of Canadians to find out what the effect of piracy is on music sales. The results are surprising, at least, for the music industry.
The researchers conclude that that people who download more music actually buy more CDs. They report: “We estimate that the effect of one additional P2P download per month is to increase music purchasing by 0.44 CDs per year.”
This basically means that if someone downloads 270 songs a year via BitTorrent, he or she will buy 9 CDs more than someone who only downloads 27 songs. So, in a way illegal downloads actually convert into more CD sales. So, at worst, filesharing isn’t the cause for a drop in CD sales. It might even be a boon to it.
This study once again confirms that piracy is not as bad as the recording industry content “owners” want us to believe. Filesharing gives people the opportunity to discover new music for free. It makes it easier to try new music before you buy. Right now, downloading songs off P2P networks is pretty much the only way to listen to complete tracks before deciding to buy them.
No doubt the RIAA bullyboy Cartel will dispute this result once again, but lets be clear they are only deluding themselves, not us.
