In June 2009 with the passing of the HADOPI law, France became the first country to use legislation to tackle the issue of piracy in music downloads. The UK Digital Economy Bill, which passed somewhat controversially through Parliament earlier this year and includes provisions for banning illegal file-sharers and blocking websites that infringe copyright laws, is similarly designed to tackle internet piracy through the use of legislation. But how successful is legislation of this nature in reducing music piracy, and more importantly, to what extent does it encourage legal consumption? There seems little evidence so far that they are doing either.

The IFPI (International Federation of the Phonographic Industry) has revealed its analysis of global music consumption in 2010, highlighting an overall drop in physical CD sales of -14.2%, with an increase of only 5.3% in (legal) digital sales during the same period leaving a significant shortfall in revenue for the industry.

Common opinion generally decrees that, in the future, the majority of consumers will be moving to the cloud to obtain broader access to music. While this is almost certainly true, in the fragmented world of consumer music consumption, a ‘collector’ mentality and desire for personal ownership continue to exist amongst many music fans. The music industry needs to ensure these different needs are addressed, rather than assuming a single model will satisfy all consumers.

Vinyl records not affected by the industry downturn?

Over the last few years a pleasing story has continued to appear like clockwork in the press. Amid general doom and gloom and tales of music industry collapse, we are told, somewhat counter-intuitively, that sales of vinyl records are continuing to increase. See the chronologically listed selection of articles below for proof.[1]

 

Declining consumer spend on physical music has forced the demise of many traditional bricks and mortar record stores. For the music industry, question marks remain about how, and even whether, the revenue generated by digital music can offset this loss. Rather than fighting this, the music industry first needs to ensure that the remaining retail consumers don’t drop out of its customer base altogether.

High street closures

The first album I bought was Happy Nation by Ace of Base. Yeah, I know. The format I bought it on – cassette – hasn’t aged any better than their distinctive (and, some would argue, inimitable…) brand of Swedish pop-reggae. And now, it looks like the record shop I purchased it from might be taking a similar slide into the field of “ha, remember them?” obscurity.

The shape and direction of the digital music industry can be hard to evaluate at the best of times. This week saw BSkyB give up on their Sky Songs service just a year after launching it [1], while Spotify continues to grow a paying subscriber base (albeit not yet to a level deemed profitable) [2]. Given these contrasting fortunes, it seems an appropriate time to revisit demand for streaming services, and see whether they’re any closer to establishing the mass-market audience the model relies on.

With growing smartphone and tablet ownership, and increasing connectivity of home stereo/entertainment systems, the notion of being always-on and seamlessly interacting across multiple devices is becoming a way of life for many consumers. Within this context, a service offering unlimited access to any song, artist, or label catalogue, across any internet-enabled device, can surely have never been a more enticing proposition?