According to new data reported by The Guardian UK, the amount of UK teenagers sharing unauthorized music has fallen dramatically since 2007, while the amount of teens using streaming services has grown exponentially.
The data, based on a survey of 1000 14-to-18 year-olds, shows that pirates have moved to legal venues such as YouTube and Spotify among others.
Along with the streaming increase, up to 65 percent, illegal downloads dropped from 42 percent in December of 2007, to just 26 percent in January of 2009.
The report does state that perhaps the number has fallen so substantially for illegal downloads because users have moved on to copying music from friend’s MP3 players as well as sharing using Bluetooth.
Steve Purdham, CEO of We7, adds, via the Guardian: “They may not buy an album, though they have that opportunity, but you can sell them tour tickets and a T-shirt of their favourite band.”
Paul Brindley, CEO of Music Ally, added about the report: “These figures challenge the idea that filesharing will just continue to grow. While we don’t think for a second that it shows the war against piracy is won, it does at least suggest that there is encouraging news for the music industry.”
Result for: favour
Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has said today that the ‘bizarre’ Wii-no-Ma video service will eventually hit North America and Europe.
The service, released today in Japan, the channel is set around a virtual living room that can house 8 Miis.
The Miis can relax and watch programming Nintendo has come up with in conjunction with a Japanese ad agency, and supply ratings for the video material.
“Wii-no-Ma service is available only in Japan at the start, but the overseas deployment is under planning in the future,” added Iwata. “As Japanese videogames, anime or manga are very favoured all over the world, we also anticipate a great possibility of same spread for video programmes.”
Result for: favour
The Vodafone Music Store, which currently has over 1 million tracks available to users, has announced it will be dropping DRM copyright protection for the music while signing new deals with Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and EMI Music.
Vodafone says the deals are the first of their kind, allowing users on the Vodafone network to download DRM-free music directly to their handsets.
For users that have already purchased DRM-crippled tracks from the store, an upgrade to DRM-free MP3s will be available, free of charge.
“Music is central to many of our customers’ lives,” added Pieter Knook, Vodafone Internet Services Director. “By Vodafone pioneering DRM free on mobile and offering MP3s on PC, they will now have the freedom to download tracks from their favourite artists without any device restrictions allowing them to experience their music however they want it, wherever they are.”
