Record Industry Caught Spreading Bullshit

[skorchedbellend]

This excellent article in the register refutes claims by the UK and australian equivalent of the RIAA that downloading is losing them money.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/6/36616.html

"In a survey of 3667 members of the public aged between 12 and 74, 17.8 per cent said they had downloaded music. Of those, 92 per cent - 600 people - admitted to using illegal file-sharing sites.

On the basis of this figure, and an assumed 48.78 million members of the music buying public, the BPI reckons some eight million Brits are stealing songs via illegal file-shares.

And they're buying fewer records, the BPI says. Among music downloaders, album spending was last year was down 32 per cent on 2002, and spending singles was down 59 per cent.

By contrast, UK album shipments have remained broadly flat over the past three years at around 232 million units, while the volume of single purchases has dropped 30 per cent year-on-year.

In other words, downloading music discourages punters from buying records. We have never been entirely convinced by the counter-argument - that downloaders buy more music, because they get to sample more of it - but the BPI's numbers also warrant closer scrutiny.

'Shipments' and 'spending' are not the same thing. The BPI admits that album prices fell last year. "Latest figures show that almost half of all CD albums now retail for under £10," the BPI notes, down from around £13, in our experience. So if the number of CDs sold remains the same - at around 232 million a year - of course the public is spending less. By around 23 per cent, according to those pricing figures.

So if they had bought the same number of albums in 2003 as they had in 2002, downloaders' spending would typically have dipped by around 23 per cent in any case. The fact it has fallen beyond that is a matter for concern, but the revenue lost to downloading - if it is indeed due to downloading - isn't as much as the BPI would have us think."

[Malicious Intent]

Read the BPI article. The comparison is at a set date between those downloading music from p2p and those not. The comparison does not compare the past with now.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/pdf/BPI_Downloa...rch_250404.pdf
This makes the registers comment inaccurate. Even if sales are down amoungst downloaders because of falling prices, that doesn't explain the flat level of spending amoungst those not downloading (down 0.8%).

Also, the 8 million figure is the number downloading. A more accurate rounding of those downloading illegally is 7 million (7.4).

I havn't read the full method of the experiment.

[Afn]

Read the BPI article. The comparison is at a set date between those downloading music from p2p and those not. The comparison does not compare the past with now.
http://www.bpi.co.uk/pdf/BPI_Downloa...rch_250404.pdf
This makes the registers comment inaccurate. Even if sales are down amoungst downloaders because of falling prices, that doesn't explain the flat level of spending amoungst those not downloading (down 0.8%).

Also, the 8 million figure is the number downloading. A more accurate rounding of those downloading illegally is 7 million (7.4).

I havn't read the full method of the experiment.

Peer to peer will increase record and software sales for products that are of exceptional value. Likewise, it will make most commerical products offered for sale unsalable due to customer preference and mp3 technologies to preview completly before purchase.

[c411Z]

my thoery is that most people have discovered underground music to be much better than mainstream and realized the only way to get this is to download it. or go to the shows as they come. and i don't see anything riaa can do abotu it for 1 they dont own the rights to underground labels music. 2 they are still putting out mainstream sellout crap and thats what i think. who cares what the polls say people are looking else where for entertainment and finding it's a much brighter bigger and more interesting selection of media and culture.

resist the war on sharing abolish trade!

[TheBlackSnow]

RIAA, kiss my (_*_) !!!

[hawkburn]

RIAA, kiss my (_*_) !!!

Say something worth meaning, or just don't say anything. I am not a moderator so I have no jurisdiction... but I know this is what the whole ZP public is thinking to themselves right now... so I said it.

Anyway... I agree with the main topic.. that shipments and sales figures arent the same, as they have gone down in price, and people are actually buying the same amount. I believe the exact same thing is going on here in the States.