Canadian Study: P2P *GOOD* for CD sales

[Iscariot]

From a Globe and Mail blog:

Earlier today, Industry Canada, a ministry of the federal government, released a surprising study of peer-to-peer file-sharing on the music industry.

The study is called The Impact of Music Downloads and P2P File-Sharing on the Purchase of Music: A Study for Industry Canada, and was written by Birgitte Andersen and Marion Frenz, of the Department of Management at the University of London in England.

Its conclusion: P2P file-sharing does not put downward pressure on purchasing music, as the music industry has insisted for years. In fact, it does just the opposite: It tends to increase music purchasing.

What?

This is, after all, a study released with the blessings of the federal government, not some self-serving poll commissioned by the music industry.

Among other things, the study found that for every 12 P2P downloaded songs, music purchases increased by 0.44 CDs, or that “downloading the equivalent of approximately one CD increases purchasing by about half of a CD.” Additionally, the study concludes that half of all songs were downloaded with a "try before you buy" philosophy in mind.

The authors of the study stress that in the aggregate, P2P has not been conclusively linked to an increase or decrease in sales, which flies in the face of the claims made by the recording industry.

Note to moderators: it was a tough choice of this forum, current events or the politics forum. Having seen other P2P threads, I felt this was the approriate choice, but I apologize in advance if I was wrong.

 

[it5five]

Living proof right here.

I buy albums I download and enjoy; albums I wouldn't have otherwise bought because I wouldn't have known of the artist or heard enough songs to know if I would be wasting my money.