File-sharing and Spending Less: No Connection, Says Report

A new report called "Despite Industry Fears, Consumer Spending Cuts Do Not Impact Piracy" released yesterday by Interpret wants to put some of the industry's fears at rest (as hard as that could be) – there’s no real relationship between consumers spending less money and their tendency to engage in file-sharing via p2p networks.


In their own words Interpret is “a leading entertainment, media and technology measurement and market research firm that applies proprietary, cutting edge methodologies and extensive category knowledge to help companies plan, test, and measure their business strategies.”
The report which was an investigation of the link between cutting back on spending due to the economy and the probability to resort to illegal downloads from file sharing sites revealed no connection worth mentioning. It seems that consumers who have reduced their spending are less likely than the average consumer to fancy physical media (DVDs, CDs, etc) and much more likely to flirt with digital media using streaming and downloading sites. According to the study, among file-sharers, the one to account for most of the activity is music. To follow some numbers – 86 percent of file-sharers have downloaded music illegally, compared to only 31 percent each for TV and films.
Michael Dowling, CEO of Interpret LLC pointed out :"The good news for content creators and providers is that the struggling economy does not appear to have increased filesharing. While filesharing is still a legitimate concern, there are several mitigating steps the industry can take to actually enhance its opportunity with consumers."