IP Outreach Research > IP Crime
Reference
Title: | 68 Cents per Song: A Socio-Economic Survey on the Internet |
Author: | Francesco D Sandulli and Samuel Martin-Barbero [Universidad Complutense de Madrid] |
Source: | Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies 13: 63-78 |
Year: | 2007 |
Details
Subject/Type: | Piracy |
Focus: | Music |
Country/Territory: | Spain |
Objective: | To find out how much and why users of P2P networks would be willing to pay for a song online instead of downloading it for free. |
Sample: | 4430 Spanish P2P users |
Methodology: | Survey |
Main Findings
69% of the surveyed peer-to-peer (P2P) network users said that they would pay for online music, while 31% stated that they would never pay for it. On average, the price the former are willing to pay is 68 cents of a Euro per song. The most well-accepted arguments in favour of paying for digital songs were the "greater reliability" (safe and reliable downloading) and the "larger assortment" offered by legal digital music providers. The fear of legal prosecution ranked third, while only 11 per cent of the respondents had ethical concerns about illegal music downloading.
Interpreting their findings, the authors recommend that digital music providers should, in addition to adopting new pricing strategies, offer the music consumers more value in terms of larger variety, safer and more reliable downloads and better download file management software so as to reduce the incentives to pirate music. A more aggressive and intensive prosecution of copyright infringements would also increase P2P users' willingness to pay for digital music. Effective publicity campaigns should be undertaken to familiarise file sharers with downloading ethics, for example by focusing on the negative impact their actions have on music creators.
[Date Added: Aug 12, 2008 ]