The recording industries in various countries have long argued that downloading of music has affected the bottom line of music sales. They say that because users are trading digital copies of songs and albums online they are reducing the number of legitimate music sales.
Well yet again another study is released that supports the opposite. The BBC has an article on the study. The research was done by Digital Music research firm, The Leading Question. They confirm what many others have suggested before, including a Harvard Business School study on downloading and album sales, that people who download songs also buy more music than “normal” music listeners.
I have long argued that this is true, and that people who download also buy and tend to buy more. While the study does not give any reason to the so called “slump” in music sales but I have a few suggestions for the industry. Most music listeners do not want to pay 20 dollars for a disk that has one good song. They will want to buy a disk that has 10 or 12 good songs. Let your listeners – and those who support you by buying your disks –enjoy the music in whatever way they want, repurchasing in every possible format is an abuse of your copy rights (See the Audio Home Recording Act of 1992 for the guiding principles behind this). Embrace technology like Peer-to-Peer networks and learn to make them a source of profit, and stop treating your customers like criminals. iTunes should have shown you we are willing to pay, and that our buying habits have changed.
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