Study: Piracy Boosts Music Sales

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There is another study out, this one by an assistant professor at North Carolina State University, claiming that piracy actually boosts music sales. There is a link to the 37 page report that explains in detail how this guy came to this conclusion.

A new academic paper by a researcher from the North Carolina State University has examined the link between BitTorrent downloads and music album sales. Contrary to what’s often claimed by the major record labels, the paper concludes that there is absolutely no evidence that unauthorized downloads negatively impact sales. Instead, the research finds that more piracy directly leads to more album sales.
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Makes sense... more publicity/accessibility of the music leads more people to buy the full album.
 
Tell me something I didn't already know.

Of the four people I know that actively downloaded music, the four of us have spent more than a little money buying music. The only sales piracy hurts are the sales of shit music.

Maybe record labels should stop chasing pirates and start signing artists with talent?
 
This could (and likely does) tie into the same reason car dealerships want to get you to test drive a car, or stores/manufacturers will offer a free trial of something: It gets you in the door, and makes you feel like you owe them something, making you more likely to spend your money in a particular place.

Off-topic, but related: Link to YouTube
 
The results of this study should be interpreted as a justification for artists to release more of their music freely and not as a justification for pirates to pirate, of course.
 
back in the Napster and kazaa days I spent a ton on music. Over the past five years I have probably spent $20 on music with most of that coming as free credits from Amazon.
 
wonderfield said:
The results of this study should be interpreted as a justification for artists to release more of their music freely and not as a justification for pirates to pirate, of course.
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Well, if it's free then there's no reason to pirate it, right? Lol.
 
Getting songs for free probably also boosts concerts - which the recording industry doesn't get anything from. That's probably why they hate it the most.
 
halo000008 said:
back in the Napster and kazaa days I spent a ton on music. Over the past five years I have probably spent $20 on music with most of that coming as free credits from Amazon.
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I've spent $0 as of late. I have every single Tool album and every single Dream Theater Album. Other than that, music sucks. Blame the shit ass whiny emo bands, annoying ass screamo bands, and gangsta retards for proving once again - this generation is retarded to boot :rolleyes:
 
What the music industry and even the movie industry sees as piracy is really smart consumerism. Do I want to waste money on something I may hate? No I'd rather try before plonking down my cash, thanks.

If they want to kill piracy they need to fill that niche. Create and freely share low bitrate versions of songs and movies so we can see if it's worth buying. If it is, we will buy it. If it's shit, we won't.
 
madmat said:
What the music industry and even the movie industry sees as piracy is really smart consumerism. Do I want to waste money on something I may hate? No I'd rather try before plonking down my cash, thanks.

If they want to kill piracy they need to fill that niche. Create and freely share low bitrate versions of songs and movies so we can see if it's worth buying. If it is, we will buy it. If it's shit, we won't.
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Oh noes! Don't let some members of the site see you say that though. They may think we have some misguided sense of entitlement.

Personally, I have no problem paying for what I consume. I think I prove that with the fact that for the past three years, I've torrented Top Gear UK then bought it off of Amazon when it becomes available. I genuinely like the show, and time after time, I'm entertained, and looking forward to the next episode. Keeping me entertained is worth the couple bucks an episode I pay.

And it's not like I've easily spent $500 in music over the past 1.5-2 years...most of which I bought after having had a pirated copy, or at least sampled some of the artist's other work.

But hey music industry, look at the bright side, you no longer have to worry about me stealing music and TV shows. I have Netflix and a Zune Pass now, so I get 90% of the music/shows I want for the price of a single CD + DVD a month. Regardless of how much I consume, you'll still get the same pittance every month. Guess you should have STFU and just taken the increased sales, huh?
 
MavericK96 said:
Makes sense... more publicity/accessibility of the music leads more people to buy the full album.
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This. If record companies want to sell more albums they can do the following:

First, add more variety to the airwaves. Do we really need to hear the same 5 songs played every hour on the hour that have been played for the last 5 years? Mix it up so we can find new stuff. Modern radio of any genre is boring because it's repetitive, and every freaking radio station does it.

Second, drop the price. Make it cost less and you'll get more sales.

Third, add in some incentive for buying an album. Buy a whole album instead of just downloading one hit song and you get exclusive extras like "making of" videos, interviews with band members, bonus tracks, etc. It's a great tool for physical media and it can be done in the digital download era too.

Suing people makes them not like you. Supporting your audience makes you popular.
 
Phoenix333 said:
This. If record companies want to sell more albums they can do the following:

First, add more variety to the airwaves. Do we really need to hear the same 5 songs played every hour on the hour that have been played for the last 5 years? Mix it up so we can find new stuff. Modern radio of any genre is boring because it's repetitive, and every freaking radio station does it.

Second, drop the price. Make it cost less and you'll get more sales.

Third, add in some incentive for buying an album. Buy a whole album instead of just downloading one hit song and you get exclusive extras like "making of" videos, interviews with band members, bonus tracks, etc. It's a great tool for physical media and it can be done in the digital download era too.

Suing people makes them not like you. Supporting your audience makes you popular.
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Agree with all of this.

Re: the first point, that pisses me off so much about radio. I can literally hear the same song on a variety of stations like 5 times within an hour and a half. It seems like they all just play the same 20 or so songs over and over and over and over for a month.
 
MavericK96 said:
Agree with all of this.

Re: the first point, that pisses me off so much about radio. I can literally hear the same song on a variety of stations like 5 times within an hour and a half. It seems like they all just play the same 20 or so songs over and over and over and over for a month.
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Thats because they do :D. Even on Sirius/XM the channels just play the same shit over and over for at least 2 months ans then they will switch and play the new stuff over and over and over.
 
BigJayDogg3 said:
Oh noes! Don't let some members of the site see you say that though. They may think we have some misguided sense of entitlement.

Personally, I have no problem paying for what I consume. I think I prove that with the fact that for the past three years, I've torrented Top Gear UK then bought it off of Amazon when it becomes available. I genuinely like the show, and time after time, I'm entertained, and looking forward to the next episode. Keeping me entertained is worth the couple bucks an episode I pay.

And it's not like I've easily spent $500 in music over the past 1.5-2 years...most of which I bought after having had a pirated copy, or at least sampled some of the artist's other work.

But hey music industry, look at the bright side, you no longer have to worry about me stealing music and TV shows. I have Netflix and a Zune Pass now, so I get 90% of the music/shows I want for the price of a single CD + DVD a month. Regardless of how much I consume, you'll still get the same pittance every month. Guess you should have STFU and just taken the increased sales, huh?
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Hey, the RIAA and MPAA view anything and everything as piracy. If I make a mix tape and play it for a friend or friends, I'm a pirate. If I loan DVD's or borrow DVD's I'm a pirate. In short, if you're listening to music you didn't purchase or tune in on a radio in your possession or if you're watching programs or films in a manner that they're not making money off of you're a pirate. To them piracy isn't just about downloading or distributing, it's about a myriad of things.

If you rip a DVD YOU PURCHASED to your hard drive to use on your equipment... you are a pirate. Something that millions of people do each day world wide. You have the DMCA to thank for that BTW. A law that throws fair use out the window.
 
Did I miss something here? Does the paper not actually prove a causal relationship between album sales and torrenting? There may be a correlation, but that is totally different than a causal relationship.
 
Cyraxx said:
I've spent $0 as of late. I have every single Tool album and every single Dream Theater Album. Other than that, music sucks. Blame the shit ass whiny emo bands, annoying ass screamo bands, and gangsta retards for proving once again - this generation is retarded to boot :rolleyes:
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Yeah, but thats like, your opinion man. Music is all opinion. I mean I look at Lil wayne and his lyrics and laugh (infact when I need a LOL I google lyrics of his), but there is so many people who enjoy it, I guess who am I to say it sucks if I'm the minority.
 
First, eggs are bad for you...then later, they are good for you...
First, asbestos is good for you, then later, it is bad for you....
First, piracy is bad for you, then later, it is good for you....

funny-pictures-da-fuck.jpg
 
BigJayDogg3 said:
Tell me something I didn't already know.

Of the four people I know that actively downloaded music, the four of us have spent more than a little money buying music. The only sales piracy hurts are the sales of shit music.

Maybe record labels should stop chasing pirates and start signing artists with talent?
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The problem with that is that the record labels have tried to avoid signing artists with actual talent since about the 70's when they figured out that talented musicians are harder to control because they needed the musicians more than the musicians needed them. The talented musicians started demanding more control over the music they made and a fair cut of the profits so the labels decided they would be better off signing artists that would be nothing without their marketing.
 
once they get back to producing good music i foresee the effect of piracy being even less! i have a hard time even listening to radio anymore...
 
SomeFknGuy said:
once they get back to producing good music i foresee the effect of piracy being even less! i have a hard time even listening to radio anymore...
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I haven't listened to the radio (FM) in forever. They play the same 15 songs over and over again. They have the radio on at work sometimes and you can hear the same song 3 times in 1 hour. It's insane. Mindless drones we all must be.
 
Study isn't surprising. Pretty much 100% of the music that I have bought in the past 8 months was because I heard it by browsing YouTube. It is also a great way to find some very talented indie artists. Stuff like soundcloud, band camp, and youtube are sooooo much more convenient. Can usually buy 320 mp3 or lossless audio tracks too.

Mainstream artists should dump their studios which are taking almost all their profit anyways.
 
BigJayDogg3 said:
Tell me something I didn't already know.

Of the four people I know that actively downloaded music, the four of us have spent more than a little money buying music. The only sales piracy hurts are the sales of shit music.

Maybe record labels should stop chasing pirates and start signing artists with talent?
Click to expand...

It's like pg-13 blockbusters vs good movies. Once you start signing good artists rather than manufacturing a star to the lowest common denominator, you start cutting into margin. They have to invest significantly more money to get each dollar of sales revenue. In the old days, they could do this. Be small and specialize. Today, you are telling a publicly traded multi-national to get smaller and make less money, and they are going to fight it tooth and nail.

Neither of us really care about that multinational though. The REAL problem is we have made the middleman's position untenable, but we haven't come up with a good replacement that lets the band get to me in a very effective manner.
 
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