Lends credence to previous research claiming that P2P actually increases music consumption.
UK ISP Tiscali has released the results of an anonymous study into UK consumer’s attitudes to music and illegal music downloading. The "Tiscali Music Research" study was hosted on the tiscali.co.uk music channel through December and January, and with support from other media sites including Drowned in Sound asked the audience to share their real attitudes to illegal downloading as well as their relationship with music both recorded and live.
The study suggests that people are more familiar with P2P than expected and generally understand that illegal downloading is wrong – just not that wrong., and they haven’t been convinced that it is actually damaging to artists and the music industry. Many believe they are already contributing to the music industry by spending money regularly anyway, but they do have a limit to what they will buy. The more music savvy the consumer, the more likely they are to be participating in illegal downloading but also they are more likely to be spending more both on recorded music AND live gigs, posing a major conundrum for the music biz.
P2P sites are used by 46% of respondents but 53% say they have never knowingly downloaded music illegally.
46% said they had used one or more file-sharing programs (BitTorrent, Limewire, Gnutella, eMule, Ares or DirectConnect) with Limewire (34%) and BitTorrent (25%) by far the most popular. However 53% have never knowingly downloaded illegally. This percentage using P2P sites increases slightly to 54% for those in the survey using iTunes and significantly to 78% for the Drowned in Sound (DiS) audience. Only 7% of DiS audience have ‘never knowingly downloaded music illegally’ (40% for iTunes users).
The public know it’s wrong but illegal downloading is not viewed as ’serious enough’.
At least three out of four people know what is legal and illegal in relation to their music use, but at least half don’t think the music industry does enough to persuade them that illegal downloading is damaging (66% Tiscali, 63% iTunes and 47% DiS).
BUT Britain generally still spends money on music.
83% of the survey respondents said that they still pay for music in some form, whether on a CD or via download. In fact 78% said that they still spend money on CDs rising to 85% for DiS replies. Most surprisingly 76% of iTunes users are still buying CDs.
Even the illegal downloading communities are still spending money on CDs – 51% for tiscali.co.uk, 54% for iTunes and 69% for DiS.
This bolsters the conclusions of a file-sharing study done a few years ago by Industry Canada, a ministry of the Canadian federal government, which found that "…P2P file-sharing tends to increase rather than decrease music purchasing," and contradicts John Kennedy, Chairman and CEO of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), who testified yesterday that file-sharing "deters people from buying music online."
Up to 69% are spending over £10 ($14.34 USD) a month
34% of respondents spend at least £10 ($14.34 USD) a month, 44% for iTunes subset and 69% for DiS users. Only 17% of respondents say they spend nothing a month, 9% for iTunes and 6% for DiS. In addition, when it comes to gigs, 13% of tiscali.co.uk respondents go to at least one gig a month and this rises to 25% in the illegal download subset. For those using iTunes this represents 29% rising to 45% and 77% of DiS readers consistently go to at least one gig a week, whether they download illegally or not.
Illegal downloaders are ‘topping up’ or trying before they buy
Of those who have admitted to illegal downloading in the past, many are doing it to supplement the music they buy – 60% of Tiscali respondents and 62% of DiS said they only downloaded free because of a limited budget or to supplement their spend on their favorite music/artists. Approximately one in ten say they do it because they like to ‘try before they buy’. A similar one in ten say they rarely buy music now they can get it for free.
Moreover, I think what the study truly illustrates is that music consumption is far more complex an animal than the music industry wishes to admit. It continues to believe that a single illegal download translates into a single lost sale and that’s simply no the case. Many download an album they wouldn’t have bought otherwise or simply to sample prior to purchase. Illegal downloads also help drive revenue in other areas like merchandise and concert tickets.
jared@zeropaid.com
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