Riaa Are... Wrong ?

[fred devliegher]

Researchers at Harvard Business School and the U. of North Carolina have just completed the first direct study of file sharing's impact on CD sales and the news isn't good for the RIAA.
Contrary to claims by the music industry, the new paper finds that the effect of illegal downloads on sales is "indistinguishable from zero."

Start your downloads !

[4play]

its about the 5th study recently by business schools in the states that says filesharing is not hurting cd sales.

seems resonable to me but im a bit bias since i get free music.

[RealitY]

Australian Music Industry Has Record Sales Year
March 29, 2004
Thomas Mennecke

The Australian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) has taken a similar path to its American brethren, the RIAA. Convinced that file-sharing and CD copying is evil, the ARIA has been actively pursuing Australian based Sharman Networks (owners of Kazaa). Although the industry has not yet declared war against it own customers, it has directly blamed P2P networking for the apparent decline of music sales. 

"Apparent" is the key word mind you. Many global music industries, such as the Australian, American and British, have clamored that file-sharing has crippled music sales. However, many critics have questioned whether P2P is to blame, as alternative explanations such as a global economic recession, is more plausible. Interestingly, as the global economy has improved, so have music sales. Oddly enough, despite the increased music sales, file-sharing activity has stood its ground.

While the American music industry is recovering, the Australian music industry enjoyed its best year ever in 2003. However, The Sydney Morning Herald points out that the ARIA's press release, "Music DVD continues its rise whilst CD singles slide further" lacks this one piece of key information. The Herald continues to state that a savvy finance reporter, SBS's Peter Martin, discovered that CD sales topped 50 million copies in 2003. In addition, total sales (all formats) were 65.6 million. This value is well over the 63.9 million sales in 2001.

So, has file-sharing hurt the Australian music industry? The evidence appears to say "no", as Sydney Morning Herald points out that in 1998, a year before the Napster revolution, CD sales were a paltry 39.6 million units.

When looking at the ARIA press release, it fails to mention that 2003 was a record sales year. The ARIA instead discusses that the CD single, an out dated and antiquated relic, suffered a 16.57% decline in unit sales and 23.90% decline in dollar value in 2003.

Many agree that the CD single may have its days numbered, as the Internet has largely replaced the need for this entity. Whether you prefer P2P or "legitimate" sources, it seems bizarre to spend at least 5 dollars for a single when its available online for a maximum of 99 cents.

http://www.slyck.com/news.php?story=438

[lee551]

read this on slashdot.org

"...Those two economists at Harvard and UNC-Chapel Hill have done the research and the math on how much CD sales are actually hurt by P2P sharing. The answer: A whopping one CD per 5,000 files downloaded. Needless to say, RIAA are already trying to discredit the study."

story here

[Adster]

what????

since when??

RIAA a with file sharing not against it they share their screeching music apparently

[Barbarossa]

Originally posted by Adster@31 March 2004 - 11:09

RIAA a with file sharing not against it they share their screeching music apparently

I've seen alot of people sharing Celine Dion...

[Mystikan]

If anything, the decline in CD sales is probably more due to boycotts and the RIAA's bad PR than filesharing!

[Anarchi5t]

or the fact that most new music sucks

[DanB]

They just want more money, its plain greed

[Will_518]

1 CD for every 5000 files may not sound that much, but right now, there are 600million files being shared on Kazaa, (20:27 GMT 1st April), that's 120000 CDs.

ATM, this may not be such a big problem 'cos most people haven't broadband or p2p applications. but both of these are growing, if filesharing remains as it is how big would this problem become in 10 years? or even 5 years?

Take a look at China for example. Apparently 1/3 of world's software is developed by india, but how many per cent is developed by chinese companies? When is the last time you heard of a chinese computer software company? Why is there this difference? i would suggest the massive problem of piracy in china has something to do with it, you can buy a CD or other software in china, if it's not from an official shop, chances are it's a pirate copy, try it the next time you or your friend goes there. Now, wouldn't filesharing be the same?