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We’ve been reading the IFPI’s Digital Music Report since publication began in 2004. Every year, it presents a fascinating insight into the complex world of digital music and the marketing struggles the entertainment industry faces. Although the situation appeared to be turning around for the music industry between 2006-2008, when the RIAA’s Mitch Bainwol declared that P2P piracy had been “contained”, things only seem to be getting worse – or at least that’s what the music industry wants us to believe.
The latest Digital Music report contained plenty of information and stats on digital music sales around the world. But what was particularly striking was the repetitive theme of demanding ISP/legislative involvement to solve the issue digital piracy. In many ways, this is the last stand of the music industry. Almost all other attempts to stop file-sharing, such as shutting down Napster, flooding networks with corrupt files, suing customers, educating customers, etc, has failed miserably. All that’s left is the ISP.
Why is the music industry pushing so hard for ISP/legislative intervention? Because it’s very survival is at stake. If we are to believe the IFPI’s statistics, fewer and fewer dollars are being spent investing on new artists. It’s no secret that the CD market has all but collapsed thanks to the shift towards digital music. The music industry is under the impression that that only thing driving the file-sharing community is the lure of free music. However, this is hardly the case as it’s an incubator for new technologies (such as BitTorrent, DHT, advanced networking, etc). It’s also a place that millions call home, where a sophisticated culture has grown since the earliest days of P2P. It’s likely that some people simply engage in file-sharing just to save a few bucks, but to give a carte blanche declaration that free is the only motivation (especially with mounting evidence that many P2Pers also buy music and drive the industry) is disingenuous. It’s not free file-sharing that individuals are defending; there’s something much more driving the motivation of the P2P community.
The IFPI 2010 Digital Music Report was no doubt one of their most dire written, but they did manage to report some good news. According to the report, in “2009, for the first time ever, more than a quarter of the recorded music industry’s global revenues (27%) came from digital channels – a market worth an estimated US$4.2 billion in trade value, up 12 per cent on 2008.” Additionally the IFPI found that music sales had risen substantially in Sweden, a success attributable the recent Ipred laws and the court decision against The Pirate Bay.
Date: 2010-01-21 |