With the increasing legal risks of using P2P file sharing networks, consumers seem to be gradually finding alternatives to their former P2P habit. Back in February 2004, 58% of those who downloaded music got their content from P2P networks such as Kazaa & Grokster. This significantly fell to just 21% at this time. However, just before the music industry gets all excited with the drop in P2P activity, it appears that their efforts have ran into a major side effect.
The majority of former P2P users simply found alternatives to getting their music without purchase. Swapping music using an iPod and other MP3 players is on the rise with 15% of former P2P users now exchanging music with other people using their MP3 player. Some even purchase tracks from iTunes, use a DRM removal tool and then give copies to their mates. Even still, iTunes does not have a restriction on how many iPods its DRM locked music may be copied to either. Swapping over instant messaging is another method. Finally, many of those who have been surveyed for how they get their music may even deny using P2P networks to avoid running into trouble, which may make P2P usage look lower than it actually is.
At this point, it seems that downloader's are getting well aware of the legal alternatives as so far 43% of P2P users have tried legal alternatives, almost double the 24% back in 2004. Finally, only 28% of former P2P users say that they have left file sharing networks as a result of hearing or reading about RIAA's lawsuits. 15% left as a result of getting spyware, viruses and annoying pop-ups.
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According to a report from the Pew Internet & American Life Project, the number of music downloaders using peer-to-peer networks has dropped in recent months. Currently, 21 percent of downloaders use networks such as Kazaa or Grokster for music or video, compared with the 58 percent who downloaded music from file-sharing networks in February 2004. By contrast, other methods of swapping music are gaining ground. iPods, along with instant messaging, blogs and other sources, are becoming a popular music transfer tool. Eleven percent of former file sharers admitted to using Apple Computer's iPod or other MP3 players to swap songs in the past, compared with the 15 percent of downloaders who currently do.
"Digital audio players like the iPod that can store thousands of songs and other files are emerging as an alternative way to access media files and avoid some of the potential risks of peer-to-peer usage," the report said. Read the full article here. |
Since the very first RIAA lawsuits were issued, I figured that the majority who would leave P2P would simply find alternatives such as bringing music to a mates house on portable hard drives, CDs and so on. With 79% of those now using alternatives to P2P, it seems like the RIAA have simply done a good job at making consumers file swapping techniques much more uncontrollable, much like the days when consumers exchanged music by copying tapes.
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Source: c|net News - Music
