The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has issued its latest Digital Music Report 2010, which reveals that global digital music trade revenues reached £2.6 billion (up 12%) in 2009. However, despite the music industry increasing its digital revenues by 940% since 2004, "illegal" P2P file sharing by customers of broadband ISPs apparently attributed to an overall global market (physical and digital media) decline of around 30% in the same period.Complete full year figures were not offered, but digital and physical global sales in the first half of 2009 were reportedly down 12%, excluding performance rights income. However it's worth pointing out that the report appears to lump its digital and physical sales data together; online piracy is purely digital, where trade is still heading upwards.
Needless to say that it’s difficult to read, on the one hand blaming P2P piracy for a decline in music sales and on the other saying things like this - "Sales of music downloads, the dominant revenue stream in digital music, are seeing steady growth. Single track download sales increased by an estimated 10%, while digital albums rose an estimated 20% in 2009."
The report claims third party studies overwhelmingly conclude that the net impact of illegal file-sharing is to depress sales of music. In addition, According to Jupiter Research, around one in five internet users in Europe (21%) shares unauthorised music. Research by Harris Interactive in the UK shows that although P2P remains the major piracy problem, unlicensed download sites, newsgroups, specialised search engines, forums, blogs and cyberlockers were all significant channels for infringement.
IFPI Chairman and CEO, John Kennedy, said:
"Music fans today can acquire tracks and albums in ways not conceivable a few years ago - from download stores, streaming sites, subscription services, free-to-user sites, bundled with their broadband or a mobile phone handset.
It would be great to report that these innovations have been rewarded by market growth, more investment in artists, more jobs. Sadly that is not the case. Digital piracy remains a huge barrier to market growth and is causing a steady erosion of investment in local music.
Governments, led by France, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK and New Zealand led the way in 2009 by adopting or proposing legislation to tackle piracy. It is vital these efforts are seen through to their conclusion and followed by other governments in 2010."
"Music fans today can acquire tracks and albums in ways not conceivable a few years ago - from download stores, streaming sites, subscription services, free-to-user sites, bundled with their broadband or a mobile phone handset.
It would be great to report that these innovations have been rewarded by market growth, more investment in artists, more jobs. Sadly that is not the case. Digital piracy remains a huge barrier to market growth and is causing a steady erosion of investment in local music.
Governments, led by France, South Korea, Taiwan, the UK and New Zealand led the way in 2009 by adopting or proposing legislation to tackle piracy. It is vital these efforts are seen through to their conclusion and followed by other governments in 2010."
The IFPI concluded by once again calling for urgent adoption of laws to curb P2P and other forms of online piracy - including the "graduated response" (a politically correct way of saying the "three-strikes" system) by which ISPs would cooperate with right holders in deterring illegal file-sharing on their networks.
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Comments: 5
james bluntPosted: 22 January, 2010 - 3:09 PM
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Yawn, this is the news for the year 2000.
The record industry still hasn't changed its business model, diversified or done anything a normal business would do if it saw its end was nigh.
The only thing it has done is "persuade" the old boys club to support it in its "right" of an everlasting revenue stream, and then some.
After shafting (and still shafting) its customers for decades, the IFPI gets what it deserves.
Andy MoorePosted: 22 January, 2010 - 5:02 PM
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Too damn right, illegal file sharing is costing jobs and takes money from my pocket as I'm running a legal music download site.
As for the comment about the business model not changing, wrong, look at the comment in the article about how it has changed. I'm legally in the marketplace, ergo, it's changed, ten years ago they wouldn't have even grasped the idea of legal downloads, now they embrace it with open arms on multiple platforms.
Your bitter vitreol makes you sound like you're too tight to ever want to pay for music.
Artists and labels make music and deserve a cut. Illegal file sharing sites needs their domain names cut off, the hosting terminated plus the search engines could do much more by not returning sites promoting illegal content in the search results.
If radiohead give an album away to thank fans it's great but if they sell it, taking it for free is Theft. (Cap T)
max davisPosted: 22 January, 2010 - 8:09 PM
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True.....new biz models are needed to go along with new technology. DataRevenue.Org represents just that. A new revenue stream from a new source - mobile networks. You would think the music business and other industries would rally around this to help get it going. But no, all we get is a LOT of people whining and complaining about how they are hurting. When it comes to DOING something productive they don't do jack..... DataRevenue.Org is actually doing something with or without the support of the "whining multimedia community". C'mon you guys, put your money where your mouth is! Look ahead not back, support the cause.
AgrajagPosted: 22 January, 2010 - 11:23 PM
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Andy, the Law say's it is not theft, but copyright infringment. Calling it "theft" is simply your opinion not a fact. As for artists needing a cut? The recording industry has been fleecing the artists for a lot longer than P2P users have.
That is one hell of a contradictory report BTW.
BabePosted: 23 January, 2010 - 10:17 PM
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so if the labels have been doing it for longer it is then OK for the P2P pirates to do it as well????
Double kick in the guts for the artist I'd say who is now also being ripped off at the consumer end by freedowners on mass!
The business model has been modernised - there are plenty of on-line stores to buy music - people illegally download because they want free music!
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