Thursday, 18 March 2010
Monday, 15 March 2010
Summer Investigation: Internet Research
Another aspect of my research included investigating on the internet and finding out what the internet community think of legal and illegal downloading.
Robert Verkaik believes that: “Illegal downloading in the UK has become a massive threat to the music and film industries. In 1997, 78 million singles were sold in the UK; last year, it was just 8.6m. It is estimated that half the population has engaged in some sort of nefarious downloading in the last five years.” www.independent.co.uk [Wednesday, 8 July 2009]. The number of album sold has depleted since 1997, however is this because of illegal downloading or because of the invention of Spotify? A piece of technology where audiences can download tracks for free. Spotify is based on a invitation service, where the invitee has to be a member of the service in which they pay for it; there is a maximum limit of 10 invitations and someone who has been invited cannot invite anyone; also if you want to use the service and haven't been invited, you can become a (paying) premium member. This supports Verkaik's view that "half the population has engaged in some sort of nefarious downloading" because illegal downloading is accessible, easy to use and most importantly: free. Although, Spotify offers a free service, it is an exclusive option because you have to be invited to use it for free or pay for the premium service, whereas [illegal] services such as Limewire offer free and accessible to everyone services. Spotify and Limewire are the antithesis of each other. In order to counteract Limewire and other illegal downloading sites iTunes are dropping the prices of their music, however this is only because they have been forced to do so that the UK is on par with prices equal with the rest of Europe; could this mean that Apple are responsible for some of the illegal downloads, because if the music in the UK is more expensive then everywhere else, consumers are going to find cheaper (if not free) music from elsewhere.
When researching the internet, I decided to find out just how easy it is to find illegal download sites. Using a single search engine, I typed in "Illegal Downloads" and www.google.com pulled up 38,200,000 hits; this highlights how big the problem of illegal downloads are and from looking at the articles on the first page, as this has the most relevant articles, I found that many consumers and critics believe that the illegal download trade is having huge implications on the music industry in terms of cost: "Music industry blames huge illegal download market for ever-falling sales" (Daily Telegraph, 22nd January 2010).
It seems that the entire internet community understand the implications that illegal downloading is having on the music industry, however it seems that even these implications aren't enough to prevent the illegal download trade. The music industry appear to finally be taking action, by releasing new software such as Spotify: " Eventually, belatedly, towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it appears as though the music industry is starting to accept the inevitable: that it will have to fundamentally change the way it operates." (Andy Vandervell). The industry and music lovers just have to wait and see whether this change has in fact come too late or just in time.
Robert Verkaik believes that: “Illegal downloading in the UK has become a massive threat to the music and film industries. In 1997, 78 million singles were sold in the UK; last year, it was just 8.6m. It is estimated that half the population has engaged in some sort of nefarious downloading in the last five years.” www.independent.co.uk [Wednesday, 8 July 2009]. The number of album sold has depleted since 1997, however is this because of illegal downloading or because of the invention of Spotify? A piece of technology where audiences can download tracks for free. Spotify is based on a invitation service, where the invitee has to be a member of the service in which they pay for it; there is a maximum limit of 10 invitations and someone who has been invited cannot invite anyone; also if you want to use the service and haven't been invited, you can become a (paying) premium member. This supports Verkaik's view that "half the population has engaged in some sort of nefarious downloading" because illegal downloading is accessible, easy to use and most importantly: free. Although, Spotify offers a free service, it is an exclusive option because you have to be invited to use it for free or pay for the premium service, whereas [illegal] services such as Limewire offer free and accessible to everyone services. Spotify and Limewire are the antithesis of each other. In order to counteract Limewire and other illegal downloading sites iTunes are dropping the prices of their music, however this is only because they have been forced to do so that the UK is on par with prices equal with the rest of Europe; could this mean that Apple are responsible for some of the illegal downloads, because if the music in the UK is more expensive then everywhere else, consumers are going to find cheaper (if not free) music from elsewhere.
When researching the internet, I decided to find out just how easy it is to find illegal download sites. Using a single search engine, I typed in "Illegal Downloads" and www.google.com pulled up 38,200,000 hits; this highlights how big the problem of illegal downloads are and from looking at the articles on the first page, as this has the most relevant articles, I found that many consumers and critics believe that the illegal download trade is having huge implications on the music industry in terms of cost: "Music industry blames huge illegal download market for ever-falling sales" (Daily Telegraph, 22nd January 2010).
It seems that the entire internet community understand the implications that illegal downloading is having on the music industry, however it seems that even these implications aren't enough to prevent the illegal download trade. The music industry appear to finally be taking action, by releasing new software such as Spotify: " Eventually, belatedly, towards the end of last year and the beginning of this year, it appears as though the music industry is starting to accept the inevitable: that it will have to fundamentally change the way it operates." (Andy Vandervell). The industry and music lovers just have to wait and see whether this change has in fact come too late or just in time.
Summer Investigation: Band Questionnaire
This questionnaire was sent through www.myspace.com because this is the most popular, mainstream website for new and unsigned bands.
1.) Do you believe that illegal downloads are affecting the music industry?
Yes No
How?
2.) Have you personally been affected by illegal downloads?
Yes No
How?
3.) Do you think the internet, using sites such as www.myspace.com, has helped audiences access your music easier?
Yes No
4.) Do you think more should be done to prevent illegal downloading?
Yes No
If so, what could be done?
5.) Do you think music is too expensive and therefore deters people from obtaining it legally?
Yes No
1.) Do you believe that illegal downloads are affecting the music industry?
Yes No
How?
2.) Have you personally been affected by illegal downloads?
Yes No
How?
3.) Do you think the internet, using sites such as www.myspace.com, has helped audiences access your music easier?
Yes No
4.) Do you think more should be done to prevent illegal downloading?
Yes No
If so, what could be done?
5.) Do you think music is too expensive and therefore deters people from obtaining it legally?
Yes No
Summer Investigation: Focus Group Questionnaire
1.) Age:
0-16 16-20 20-25 25-30 30-40 40+
2.) Gender:
Male Female
3.) Do you illegally download music, using sites such as Limewire?
Yes No
Why?
4.) Do you think that free legal download programmes, such as Spotify, are a good way to deter people from illegal downloads?
Yes No
Why?
5.) Are illegal downloads programmes easier to access than legal download programmes?
Yes No
6.) Would you prefer to download music and access it quickly or buy a hard copy in CD form?
Download CD
Why?
7.) Is the cost of CDs and legal downloads from iTunes too expensive?
Yes No
And do you believe that music industry should create cheaper music?
Yes No
8.) What impact do you think illegal downloads are having on the music industry and the bands personally?
9.) How do you find out about new bands and unsigned bands?
10.) How do you consume your music?
CD Tape Vinyl Internet (illegal) iTunes Radio
0-16 16-20 20-25 25-30 30-40 40+
2.) Gender:
Male Female
3.) Do you illegally download music, using sites such as Limewire?
Yes No
Why?
4.) Do you think that free legal download programmes, such as Spotify, are a good way to deter people from illegal downloads?
Yes No
Why?
5.) Are illegal downloads programmes easier to access than legal download programmes?
Yes No
6.) Would you prefer to download music and access it quickly or buy a hard copy in CD form?
Download CD
Why?
7.) Is the cost of CDs and legal downloads from iTunes too expensive?
Yes No
And do you believe that music industry should create cheaper music?
Yes No
8.) What impact do you think illegal downloads are having on the music industry and the bands personally?
9.) How do you find out about new bands and unsigned bands?
10.) How do you consume your music?
CD Tape Vinyl Internet (illegal) iTunes Radio
Summer Investigation: Context
How illegal & legal downloads are impacting the music industry?
I have chosen this topic as I believe it to be important; many consumers believe that illegal downloads have a huge impact on the music industry financially, which is true, however I want to attempt to find out whether legal downloads are having an equal effect – are they profiting the industry financially as much as the illegal downloads are costing them? And do they serve another purpose in helping the audience access more music from both signed and unsigned bans? It is not only an important area but also a relevant one as there has been a rise in new technologies and illegal download sites have become easier to access on the internet and seldom require downloading a torrent programme, consumers can download just single files to their computer, which saves space and time as they don’t have to wait for the programme to install. The predominate reason for choosing this question was because downloading is easily accessible to the internet population and I wanted to find the impact that it is having on the on music industry.
In order to find this information I will research using the internet and potentially plan to find download rates from the past year and how much the industry lost due to piracy and how much they profited through legal downloads. I will also attempt to find out whether unsigned bands believe that legal downloads and sites, such as www.myspace.com, have helped more audiences access their music; I will email bands through www.myspace.com using a short questionnaire. As well as using a questionnaire to research the bands opinions I will also use a questionnaire to hand to a select focus group, I will hand 20 questionnaires out, 10 on www.facebook.com and 10 personally, this will also help me to research which is a better forum for collecting information. The focus group questionnaire will inquire whether participants believe that illegal downloads are big industry problem and whether they illegally download themselves and why this is; I will also ask how the participants find out about unsigned bands or new bands and whether they believe that legal downloading/music sites (www.myspace.com) are having a positive effect on new talent, also how badly they think the new talent is being affected by illegal downloads.
I have chosen this topic as I believe it to be important; many consumers believe that illegal downloads have a huge impact on the music industry financially, which is true, however I want to attempt to find out whether legal downloads are having an equal effect – are they profiting the industry financially as much as the illegal downloads are costing them? And do they serve another purpose in helping the audience access more music from both signed and unsigned bans? It is not only an important area but also a relevant one as there has been a rise in new technologies and illegal download sites have become easier to access on the internet and seldom require downloading a torrent programme, consumers can download just single files to their computer, which saves space and time as they don’t have to wait for the programme to install. The predominate reason for choosing this question was because downloading is easily accessible to the internet population and I wanted to find the impact that it is having on the on music industry.
In order to find this information I will research using the internet and potentially plan to find download rates from the past year and how much the industry lost due to piracy and how much they profited through legal downloads. I will also attempt to find out whether unsigned bands believe that legal downloads and sites, such as www.myspace.com, have helped more audiences access their music; I will email bands through www.myspace.com using a short questionnaire. As well as using a questionnaire to research the bands opinions I will also use a questionnaire to hand to a select focus group, I will hand 20 questionnaires out, 10 on www.facebook.com and 10 personally, this will also help me to research which is a better forum for collecting information. The focus group questionnaire will inquire whether participants believe that illegal downloads are big industry problem and whether they illegally download themselves and why this is; I will also ask how the participants find out about unsigned bands or new bands and whether they believe that legal downloading/music sites (www.myspace.com) are having a positive effect on new talent, also how badly they think the new talent is being affected by illegal downloads.
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