- Feb 28, 2002
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Here's an article i found on Yahoo.
peace,
mehdi
_______________________________________________
Peer-to-peer file sharing advocates received a boost in their ongoing battle against music industry executives Friday, when Jupiter Media Metrix (Nasdaq: JMXI - news) released a study indicating that Internet file-sharing traffic volume actually increases music sales.
The research firm found that 34 percent of all peer-to-peer file-sharing users said they dole out more money for music than before they started swapping tunes online, although 15 percent of file swappers admitted to purchasing less music.
About 50 percent of respondents said they spend the same amount of money as they did before they started using such services as Kazaa, Morpheus, Gnutella (news - web sites) and Madster.
Don't Fight the Swappers
In contrast, the study found that only 19 percent of respondents who do not use file-sharing services said they now spend more money on music, while 10 percent said they spend less. A majority -- 71 percent -- said their spending habits have not changed.
The report also noted that broadband Internet access via cable modems and DSL (digital subscriber line) services, along with the proliferation of recordable CD drives, have not impacted consumer music spending to a great degree.
Aram Sinnreich, a Jupiter analyst and the report's author, told news sources that the Internet is one of the best things that could have happened to the music industry. Instead of trying to fight file trading, he said, the industry should focus on making money from it.
Revolutionary Findings Unlikely
Ryan Jones, media and entertainment analyst at the Yankee Group research firm, told NewsFactor it is difficult to measure consumer spending habits over a substantial period of time. Instead, he said, users should be asked questions at specific milestones over a recent time period.
"It's very easy for consumers to associate recent events with something they may or may not have been doing over a longer period of time," Jones said, noting that asking people to do so can skew results.
Jones added that broadband adoption probably has not influenced consumer music spending to a great degree because it still represents a small population. However, he said, he believes widespread use of recordable CD drives has affected the industry.
"CD sales are unquestionably affected because virtually every PC shipped within the last 12 months has been sent out with a CD burner and applications to burn CDs," Jones said.
RIAA (news - web sites) Disputes Impact
The Recording Industry Association of America, the long-time advocate and trade association for music industry artists, record labels and other industry insiders, has long contended that such services as the once-popular Napster (news - web sites) cut deeply into 2001 CD sales by between 5 and 10 percent.
Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA, said earlier this year that while the economy and September 11th both affected the music industry, Internet downloading also had a negative impact on sales.
"When 23 percent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot ignore the impact on the marketplace," Rosen said, referring to the RIAA's own study on consumer spending in 2001.
Unbreakable Networks?
Yet according to Jones, despite record label and RIAA lawsuits such as the one brought against Napster, peer-to-peer networks will continue to proliferate as long as there are eager code writers.
"For every [peer-to-peer system]that gets knocked down, there will be another one that pops up," Jones said.
And until all the legal questions are sorted through, he added, "the record industry will continue losing money."
peace,
mehdi
_______________________________________________
Peer-to-peer file sharing advocates received a boost in their ongoing battle against music industry executives Friday, when Jupiter Media Metrix (Nasdaq: JMXI - news) released a study indicating that Internet file-sharing traffic volume actually increases music sales.
The research firm found that 34 percent of all peer-to-peer file-sharing users said they dole out more money for music than before they started swapping tunes online, although 15 percent of file swappers admitted to purchasing less music.
About 50 percent of respondents said they spend the same amount of money as they did before they started using such services as Kazaa, Morpheus, Gnutella (news - web sites) and Madster.
Don't Fight the Swappers
In contrast, the study found that only 19 percent of respondents who do not use file-sharing services said they now spend more money on music, while 10 percent said they spend less. A majority -- 71 percent -- said their spending habits have not changed.
The report also noted that broadband Internet access via cable modems and DSL (digital subscriber line) services, along with the proliferation of recordable CD drives, have not impacted consumer music spending to a great degree.
Aram Sinnreich, a Jupiter analyst and the report's author, told news sources that the Internet is one of the best things that could have happened to the music industry. Instead of trying to fight file trading, he said, the industry should focus on making money from it.
Revolutionary Findings Unlikely
Ryan Jones, media and entertainment analyst at the Yankee Group research firm, told NewsFactor it is difficult to measure consumer spending habits over a substantial period of time. Instead, he said, users should be asked questions at specific milestones over a recent time period.
"It's very easy for consumers to associate recent events with something they may or may not have been doing over a longer period of time," Jones said, noting that asking people to do so can skew results.
Jones added that broadband adoption probably has not influenced consumer music spending to a great degree because it still represents a small population. However, he said, he believes widespread use of recordable CD drives has affected the industry.
"CD sales are unquestionably affected because virtually every PC shipped within the last 12 months has been sent out with a CD burner and applications to burn CDs," Jones said.
RIAA (news - web sites) Disputes Impact
The Recording Industry Association of America, the long-time advocate and trade association for music industry artists, record labels and other industry insiders, has long contended that such services as the once-popular Napster (news - web sites) cut deeply into 2001 CD sales by between 5 and 10 percent.
Hilary Rosen, president and CEO of the RIAA, said earlier this year that while the economy and September 11th both affected the music industry, Internet downloading also had a negative impact on sales.
"When 23 percent of surveyed music consumers say they are not buying more music because they are downloading or copying their music for free, we cannot ignore the impact on the marketplace," Rosen said, referring to the RIAA's own study on consumer spending in 2001.
Unbreakable Networks?
Yet according to Jones, despite record label and RIAA lawsuits such as the one brought against Napster, peer-to-peer networks will continue to proliferate as long as there are eager code writers.
"For every [peer-to-peer system]that gets knocked down, there will be another one that pops up," Jones said.
And until all the legal questions are sorted through, he added, "the record industry will continue losing money."
wankers
