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Posted by Dan Bell on 05 January 2004 - 07:40 - Source: Newsday
Information found from CDFreaks.com
In yet another study, conducted over the phone by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the percentage of Americans who downloaded music from the Internet fell in half from figures gathered this spring when compared to responses in the fall.
Of course, as the EFF says, maybe the percentage of people that are willing to admit they are breaking the law over the phone with a complete stranger dropped instead. Or, maybe because there are legal alternatives now, people are paying for tracks. We didn't have such a luxury last spring. Apple's iTunes launched in May and the Windows version came along in mid October.
In the fall of 2003, 14 percent of Internet users downloaded -- electronically received -- music, compared with 29 percent in late spring, according to the survey of adults by the Pew Internet & American Life Project, an independent, nonprofit initiative to explore the social impact of the Internet.
The report, released yesterday, doesn't distinguish between legal and illegal downloads but suggests that many users stopped downloading after the recording industry said in June that it would sue people who illegally receive copyrighted music online.
"Nothing has ever fallen off the cliff the way that downloading has," said Lee Rainie, director of the Pew Internet project. "Obviously the lawsuits were a watershed, and they dramatically changed some online behavior."
Mitch Bainwol, chairman and chief executive of the Recording Industry Association of America, said through a spokesman: "This data suggests to us we're on the right track. This campaign has had a profound impact on awareness."
An interesting query for the next phone interview comes to mind. What is a fair share for the music industry, per track, for a 99 cent download? Here is the present breakdown for iTunes: 35 cents. The rest goes to the music company, 53 cents and the artist(s) getting the remaining 11 cents. By the way, the iTunes people are not making any profit.
Everyway I look at this, I can't figure out if I should be happy or not?
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