Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Illegal downloaders spend more music

j0136715I have never understood the heavy handed tactics of the RIAA and others in cracking down on those who download illegal stuff.   A recent study I found through Tech-Ex says that those that download illegally spend more on music (legally) than those that don’t. In other words they are biting the hand that feeds them.

Many of those who do download the stuff are more than likely music fans already and probably do spend more money on music in the first place than those. Instead they chose to take the “Us versus Them” mentality which turns off your strongest consumer base.

It also puzzled me why Youtube would crack down on video’s that use music. We’ve probably all come across those videos that the audio track has been removed. I think many people discover or re-discover music they like through video sites like YouTube and the like. I know I’ve spent many nights re-discovering music from my youth. You can find old music videos, interviews and other archive video from a particular artist that say ten years ago you’d never be able to see. It’s like a video archive that’s just waiting to be tapped. I don’t think the music industry in general can quite grasp what a gold mine they actually have. 

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