The Truth About File Sharing
And here's some true facts to get you thinking about illegal filesharing in the first instance :
• An estimated 15% minority of individuals are responsible for 75% of the music files illegally uploaded to the internet.
• More than 4700 lawsuits have been launched worldwide.
• Litigation elsewhere in the world has successfully raised awareness. Seven out ten UK consumers are now aware that unauthorised uploading is illegal (IFPI, June 2004).
• Litigation elsewhere in the world has successfully deterred major uploaders. The number of files illegally available on file-sharing networks has declined by 30%; from 1 billion in June 2003 to 700 million in June 2004. Meanwhile, the number of Fast Track users (the most popular p2p network - accessed using Kazaa) fell by 40% - from June 2003 to September 2004 (IFPI).
• It damages sales. After one year a TNS sample of music downloaders bought 32% less albums and 59% less singles.
• This trend is reflected in sales figures. When Napster launched in 1999, 80.1 million singles were sold in the UK. This market has more than halved, with 36.4 million sold in 2003.
UK music fans want to download legally
• At the beginning of the year, weekly download sales were around the 15,000 mark. Today, together with permanent downloads and album bundles, over 300,000 are being sold.
• After launching in January, MyCokeMusic sold more than 100,000 downloads in its first three months, while iTunes reported 450,000 first week sales after its launch in June.
• There are now more than 30 high-profile legal services in the UK.
• Even more high profile service launches are due to arrive – with UK launches of Real’s Rhapsody, Virgin Download and Microsoft’s MSN Music service expected to arrive. Countless artist and label sites offer downloads as well as numerous internet radio services.
• There are over 1 million different tracks available to download legally in the UK today. This figure has more than doubled in less than a year.
• More than 2 ¼ million single tracks have been downloaded legally to date in the UK.
• On average, 40,000 different individual titles are downloaded each week in the UK, this compares with 7,000 at the beginning of the year.
• The first Official UK Download Chart was launched on September 1 with a weekly chart rundown at 6pm on Scott Mills’ Radio One Show. Westlife claimed the top spot with Flying Without Wings (Live) |
About Petrol Records
About Petrol Records
