No cure for piracy since the day the music started dying
Posted in: Online TV/Music at 12/09/2011 14:05
When it comes to digital piracy, the music industry has been the media industry's canary in the coalmine. The first sector to be severely affected by illegal online downloading, years on it still struggles to find a cure.
Globally, digital sales contribute about 30 per cent of music revenue, with more than 400 legal services worldwide offering about 13 million tracks. Nevertheless, the international recorded music industry has shrunk 30 per cent in the past six years, and widespread music piracy is one of the main reasons. In Australia, where one-third of internet users admit to illegally downloading content, it is predicted that by 2016 more than 40,000 jobs will be lost in the music and other creative industries due to online piracy, according to statistics provided by Music Industry Piracy Investigations.
www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/no-cure-for-piracy-since-the-day-the-music-started-dying/story-e6frg996-1226134295512
Also see:
Piracy drowning out voice of new talent
The debate about online piracy is often a misinformed mudslinging match where the music industry is portrayed as greedy corporations that refuse to move with the times.
Some technology writers even claim that piracy is good for artists, as they gain exposure, and that the sooner the vicious record labels become obsolete the better. After all, they say, the loss of royalties from piracy (revenue from recorded music has almost halved, worldwide, in less than a decade) doesn't matter as artists will make more than enough from touring. They depict a future where piracy will bring down the major labels and leave the small independent artists to flourish.
www.theaustralian.com.au/business/media/piracy-drowning-out-voice-of-new-talent/story-e6frg99o-1226134255604
