Music Industry Study: 80% of UK Youth Want Legal P2P

Claims a majority of 14-24yo want legal file-sharing, and it predictably says the best method is to begin taxing Internet and mobile phone connections to pay for it.

British Music Rights, which is composed of the British Academy of Composers & Songwriters, Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society, Music Publishers Association, and Performing Right Society, recently released the results of a survey analyzing the music consumption behavior of 14-24yos (average was 22).

Carried out in February and March 2008 by the University Of Hertfordshire, BMR bills it as the largest UK academic survey of its kind. Though considering the sponsors it’s only logical to assume that they’d only release a survey with findings in their favor, which it does.

For the most startling discovery is that 80% of those who admitted to illegal file-sharing want a legal P2P service, and “place a considerable monetary value on it.”

From this it then suggests that the typical music consumer would be open to the following idea:

Pay a monthly tariff at a level sufficient to compensate rights owners through their broadband or mobile network provider which will enable them [legally] to:

• fill their MP3 players and mobile phones with a wide range of digital
  music;
• rate, recommend and share this music liberally with family, friends,
  and on social networking sites;
• and copy their most-listened to tracks on multi-formats to play at home,
  in car and on the go…

Sounds a little fishy right? It’s eerily similar to the plan already being pushed by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI). The key here is that it says it’s “findings suggest.” It never asked respondents the question directly nor how they would feel if other entertainment industries like movies, books, and TV decided to also charge a “monthly tariff.” It merely makes an assumption

Here are some of the other findings:

• 63% download music from illegal P2P and file-sharing networks.
• Downloaded an average of 53 tracks per month, with some admitting to as many as 5,000.
• 42% have uploaded music to others.
• Less than 50% were educated about current copyright laws.
• 90% of respondents own an MP3 player, each containing an average of 1770 tracks – 48% (842) of which have not been paid for.
• 58% have copied music from a friend’s HDD.
• 60% say they would continue to buy CDs.
• An average of 59.65% of a respondent’s music budget was spent on live music versus recorded music.

Moreover, the survey has some pretty startling shortcomings, not the least of which is the fact that it only included 773 people! The researchers claim that the “sample size was adequate for all tests reported,” but is it honestly?

With almost 9 million people in the UK currently being between the ages of 14 to 24 (per the survey criteria) are we to believe that it successfully extrapolated the data from one-eighth of one percent of a population? With the the study’s findings “suggesting” that the best solution to music piracy is for ISPs to begin taxing Internet subscribers it’s important to point out that it’s conclusions are based on such meager data.

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