Digital Strength Drives First Growth in Music Sales Since 1999 as File Sharing Declines

[ElRojito]

Looks like this guy was somewhat right.

http://www.federicopistono.org/blog/...ecord-industry

Had the music industry jumped on this LONG ago, they wouldn't have had this problem.

[lobster68w]

Originally Posted by KanosWRX

I truly feel the likes of Spotify and Pandora have caused this shift. If you make most of the music easy to access at a fair price. People will pay for it. And so its starting to happen in the music industry.

Not only that, but thanks to Pandora, I've discovered a ton of new music I never would have found otherwise.

[AppleScruff1]

Originally Posted by Boomchukalaka

How is it possible to accurately track the number of files that have been swapped from one hard drive to another?

Google.

[76ShovelHead]

Originally Posted by milo

While it's good to see piracy drop, if the main reason for it is streaming services that compensate the artists practically nothing, that's not really much of an improvement for the actual musicians.

If an artist wants to make money, they need to go on tour and perform. Music should be free to listen to and store for later.

Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead) believed this.

Honestly, It's sad that Celebrities in our country demand more and make more than those saving lives and educating our children.

[SactoGuy18]

I think what has REALLY helped is that Apple is now releasing music in the 256 kbps VBR AAC format, which generally has excellent sound quality (there's less loss of audio quality in AAC versus MP3 at the same data rate).

I do think, though that once more people get to even faster broadband Internet, we may start seeing music released in the Apple Lossless format in a big way, especially now that Apple has open sourced this format under the Apache license. I'd love to push FLAC, but since the iPod, iPhone and iPad models since 2007 don't support FLAC natively, that format is a non-starter for a high-quality downloadable music format except for a very small niche.

[Michael CM1]

Amazing what happens when companies embrace consumer habits. I was one of those file sharers back when I was in college. I ditched the stuff when iTunes provided the same thing legally. Most people are good and will buy products if sold at a reasonable price and in a desired manner.

Now we just need to work on the movie and TV folks. Prices for both downloads and disc versions of TV shows are often ridiculous by $5 or $10. They still treat HD as some sort of premium as if it's not just the way stuff should be. With how cheap BD players are now, I don't understand why companies even make DVD-only players. Ditch that line and pass on the savings of not manufacturing old stuff.

Can you imagine the extra costs if Apple made iPhones and iPads with HDDs because some small segment of the population wanted a 250GB iPhone and would carry one as bulky as an iPod classic? Instead, the product line is smaller and Apple and others can sell cheaper products.

[ifonlyihad1]

people buy music??

[Mac32]

Originally Posted by edvj

Det kommer...
WIMP is beta testing FLAC streaming
"As you read this, WiMP actually also exists as a lossless streaming service. But it is in beta right now, with a lot of people testing together with us. It is a natural step up, to deliver full CD-quality to the users that are willing to pay a little extra."
http://wimpmusic.com/wweb/specials/audio/

Thumbs up for the Norwegians! WiMP er et veldig bra program, anbefales!

[Tech198]

Maybe, people may not know this, but sharing declines, of course it would, because "new way to prevent you from gaining access to this stuff" is out,,, it gets revised and released, like like everything else, but givin time, it will be back up to "oh.... piracy is on the rise again."

Fir example, no one could copy this movie Cars ,,,, (because of new copy protection schemes), but guess what, within a few month, it was already cracked ...

So, all this stuff declines for a year, but back up the next.

How the hell did that happen......

I'm just happy to be a pirate *wear his piratebay tee in style"

[jowie]

Spotify's great, until you rely on it for playlists. Many a time I've had music disappear as they remove versions, replace them with other versions or just remove the songs (due to rights issues?) altogether.

I still really like Spotify, but it's not something I invest my time in, unlike my iTunes collection (over ten years of collecting and organising!)

[arvacker]

I am a user of Spotify Premium, but since i tested an HTC 8X Windows 8 Phone, i hate the way it works.
The Xbox Music Pass is so beautifully integrated in the music app, i wish Apple would do something like it.
I want an iTunes Match like service, but instead of only my own music, also the entire catalog of iTunes. which then gives you the possibility to download the song, or stream it. The way the music app on iPhone works is easy and sleek. Come on Apple, you're (very) late to this party.

As much as i loved the Xbox Music Pass on my HTC 8X, there were to many things it simply can't do, or does really badly. (playlists for instance).

So back to iPhone and Spotify (which also has a smaller catalog than Xbox Music).

[xmichaelp]

Originally Posted by The Bulge

Good music … they don't make it anymore.

I was going to give you a smart-ass comment in return because lazy sweeping generalizations like this infuriate me, but if you want I can give you some good recent stuff. What genres do you like?

Of course if you were just talking about pop music you're right, but i'd argue pop music has always been mostly bad.

[downpour]

It's true most music today is terrible and it's a lot worse than it used to be.

I think it's because new artists tend to use too much of the technology available to them, instead of doing the hard work of actually learning music properly.

Music now is based on fashion, instead of melody and rhythm.

I've tried to find new artists that I like... mostly alternative stuff... but It's all so dull, it rarely keeps my interest for very long. Even worse, a lot of the bands that I used to like are just releasing rubbish now.

[xmichaelp]

Originally Posted by Nebulance

There's a major difference between FLAC files and MP3s.

128k/s? yes. 320k/s? no. It's a placebo.

[Boisv]

It's too bad a few people's lives had to be financially ruined before they figured out that the sky isn't falling.

[milo]

Originally Posted by Daalseth

How would they know that?

Did you read the article? They took a survey.

Originally Posted by Mike Valmike

Musicians have never made money from content sales.

You're looking at performers (which in that case is still wrong) but ignoring the writing part of the equation. That part of musician's income has certainly declined in recent years, but it used to be a considerable source of income. And how do you think songwriters made a living? Same goes for radio airplay which is also in decline, any time a song is played, the writer gets paid.

Originally Posted by 76ShovelHead

If an artist wants to make money, they need to go on tour and perform. Music should be free to listen to and store for later.

If a musician believes this, they are free to give away their music. Random people don't get to declare how things "should be" just because they are cheapskates.

...Celebrities in our country demand more and make more...

Who cares about "celebrities", there are plenty of working musicians who aren't "celebrities" and are making a very modest living. Who the hell are you to insist that people shouldn't be paid for the work they do? Nobody is demanding more, it's the opposite - people that get used to get paid for their work are now getting nothing for it.

[GermanyChris]

Originally Posted by downpour

It's true most music today is terrible and it's a lot worse than it used to be.

I think it's because new artists tend to use too much of the technology available to them, instead of doing the hard work of actually learning music properly.

Music now is based on fashion, instead of melody and rhythm.

I've tried to find new artists that I like... mostly alternative stuff... but It's all so dull, it rarely keeps my interest for very long. Even worse, a lot of the bands that I used to like are just releasing rubbish now.

Why does music need this, some of the most important music of the last 40 years was not liked for how it sounded but what it said.

I don't want you melody and rhythm I want to hear what you have to say and it better not take longer than 90 seconds or I've switched you off. If what you have to say is discordant why should the music not follow suit?

Perceived skill should never be more important than message.

[MrDc2]

File sharing declines...oh no...

----------

Originally Posted by Tech198

Maybe, people may not know this, but sharing declines, of course it would, because "new way to prevent you from gaining access to this stuff" is out,,, it gets revised and released, like like everything else, but givin time, it will be back up to "oh.... piracy is on the rise again."

Fir example, no one could copy this movie Cars ,,,, (because of new copy protection schemes), but guess what, within a few month, it was already cracked ...

So, all this stuff declines for a year, but back up the next.

How the hell did that happen......

I'm just happy to be a pirate *wear his piratebay tee in style"

I think this story is utter BS.

[bedifferent]

I'm not a promoter of stealing or pirating, however there have been recent events that should be alarming many. The RIAA, MPAA and others are working with the IFPI in taking down sites in nations with little to no laws regarding peer to peer sharing in the guise of "piracy". Many artists who cannot secure record deals willingly share their work through such sites; it gains them an audience who have been willing to pay for their work or it simply is a hobby they believe the digital dawn has allowed them to use for their work. As the battle over Net Neutrality wanes, the RIAA, MPAA, and ISP's are working with governments in shutting down sites. "Demonoid", a file sharing member only community, was shut down a while ago through a joint effort by the RIAA and the Ukraine government. The mod's are facing hundreds of thousands in fines as well as jail time. I believe this happened last summer.

Demonoid Taken Down By Ukrainian Government; Domains For Sale

What is troubling is how this occurred. It seems by many accounts the RIAA, IFPI, MPAA, U.S. government and others worked with Ukraine officials in a DDoS attack (btw there were no laws regarding bittorrent-ing in the Ukraine, although it has been a while I would need to research that info). The Ukraine mounted this attack just after "Deputy Prime Minister Valery Khoroshkovsky's diplomatic trip to the United States" and were given many monetary "incentives".

Demonoid Busted As A Gift To The United States Government

I have many friends who are musicians, writers, etc and it is next to impossible for them to secure record deals or to provide their work to so many who would gladly pay for it. However, they do not mind that their work is traded online; it garners recognition and many donate to the artists directly. The RIAA and MPAA claim the monetary fines obtained from DDoS attacks on bit-torrent sites such as "Demonoid" would go back to the artists. However, the IFPI is using that obtained money to further its agenda against pirating*. Many have gone online, through blogs or other venues and expressed their frustration in the hypocrisy of the RIAA, MPAA and IFPI. They claim these sites subvert the necessary royalty fees deserved by the artists for whom they "steal". The irony, the artists never receive a cent from the RIAA and MPAA as these funds line the pockets of the executives and a good portion goes back into furthering the IFPI agenda. The Ukraine government received a hefty reward by the IFPI through the MPAA and RIAA.

The individuals who hurt the most are the artists who want their material available for anyone to download. Bit-torrent/peer-to-peer sites were/are the best method. How about items that aren't available for sale, but can be legally traded? Many downloaded items legally as it was the only place to find such items. I recall reading statistics on how much illegal data was downloaded versus legally traded. The pirated percentage was extremely low, again I would have to recheck but I recall figures around 5-6%*.

Lastly, ISP's are winning the battle with the U.S. government in handing out harsh(er) punishments to those they believe are guilty of online copyright infringement. Following new legal precedents such as "The Patriot Act", "Due Process" may be eliminated as those accused (i.e. "suspected" through monitoring) will immediately be found guilty. I've recently received notices from individuals involved trying hard to keep this "Six Strikes" strategy from occurring.

Six Strikes is here.

Beginning today, AT&T, Cablevision, Comcast, Time Warner Cable, and Verizon have all agreed to start spying on their users.

That's right. The US's largest Internet Service Providers are implementing a new "online infringement" plan to identify and punish, with virtually no due process, users suspected of downloading copyrighted content.

Click here to tell the ISPs: no cyber-snooping, no punitive new copyright rules.

After a year of back room dealing with the MPAA and RIAA, the nation's top ISPs have agreed to use the so-called "Copyright Alert System" (or "Six Strikes") to go after customers suspected of file-sharing

Following a series of escalating warnings, the plan would allow ISPs to slow down, or "throttle," the Internet connection of suspected copyright violators.

And if you want to contest the accusation? That will cost you $35.

Click here to put the ISPs on notice: stop overly punitive infringement policies or we'll take our business elsewhere.

The new plan would jeopardize open and public WIFI networks, and lead to widespread wrongful accusations for those who share a network at home, in a WIFI hot spot, or in the workplace.

Six Strikes is designed to safeguard the profits of America's wealthiest industries by tracking, targeting, and punishing internet users. Click here to oppose Six Strikes.

Please urge your friends to take action.

The digital age is a new era of how information is processed and relayed. Net Neutrality came first and is still a threat, now companies are joining forces in order to enact new legislation on what is deemed "online copyright infringement" through loopholes in online infringement law as they are losing the net neutrality battle.

I don't write long comments often, it at all, but working in communications and IT for 15 years now at 36 years of age, I am watching a slow but evident progression to control more and charge more. As the saying goes, "He who controls the information controls the world", and he who controls it can cash in from that control. As a capitalist based nation/economy, we have to act, with our dollars and writing those lawmakers who side with freedom of information. Pirating is one matter, controlling information, art, freedom is another matter we should not be so blind to see happening.

*As I proofread I will list the sources to support this statement

[bedifferent]

Originally Posted by 76ShovelHead

If an artist wants to make money, they need to go on tour and perform. Music should be free to listen to and store for later.

Jerry Garcia (The Grateful Dead) believed this.

Honestly, It's sad that Celebrities in our country demand more and make more than those saving lives and educating our children.

God, yes, especially the last line. The sad reality seems that no one cares about spending $12 for a movie or a couple hundred of tickets, yet complains when their taxes rise a bit. What's more important, taxes to improve our failing education system, support our civil servants that protect us and the many men and women who patrol our streets to ensure our safety or those expensive court-side tickets that you could barely afford? We need to prioritize as other first world nations and realize there are more important aspects in life (not to state we should not enjoy ourselves, far from it, but when the average American's income is tighter every year, perhaps we all should rethink where our money goes).