In an annual digital music survey carried out by Entertainment Media Research, it has found that the unauthorised sharing of music has now hit an all-time high. 43% of 1,700 people questioned admitted to downloading unauthorised music via P2P networks, which is up from 36% last year. Unfortunately for the music industry, the growth in digital music sales is declining. Despite the on-going lawsuit campaigns carried out by the music industries, only 33% of those surveyed see the risk of prosecution as a deterrent, down from 42% surveyed last year. Worse still, the number surveyed who intend downloading more unauthorised tracks has risen to 18%, up from 8% last year.
When it comes to DRM, things get a little interesting. While there is widespread pressure from various consumer groups to do away with DRM, only 12% surveyed actually know what DRM exactly means and a further 37% never heard about it. However, 39% would be happy to pay a little extra to get DRM-free tracks, so most of those who heard about DRM likely heard about it as something that is bad or to avoid.
Finally, the survey has revealed that fixed track pricing seems to be a main issue. At present, most online stores change the same price for a chart song as for an oldie. Going by the survey, 84% agree that older music should be cheaper. For chart music, the current prices do not seem to be as much of an issue as 48% mentioned they would be prepared to pay more for just released music.
Further information can be read in this PC Pro story.
