Global digital sales were up 40% last year, which is good news of sorts, though overall record sales were down about 10%. Music piracy is to blame obviously. Nothing to do with short-sightedness and digital incompetence at the major record companies, or a shift in consumer spending on music from recordings to concert and festival tickets, ringtones, artist merchandise, music DVDs, music TV services etc etc etc.
The sales stats and piracy grumbling were both published by the good old International Federation Of The Phonographic Industry. Their review of 2007 also revealed that digital music sales (online and mobile) now account for 15% of the global music market, up 11% from 2006, and in certain territories digital music is even more important - 30% of the market in the US and a massive 60% in South Korea.
Clearly digital is the big thing but, the IFPI says, the growth of the digital music sector continues to be hindered by the illegal distribution of music via P2P and other unlicensed MP3 services. With that in mind, the trade body used its Digital Music Report 2008, from where all those stats come, to again call on the internet service providers to take more responsibility for the naughty online music pirates who connect to the net via their servers, and to again call on governments to force the ISPs to take more responsibility for the naughty online music pirates who connect to the net via their servers.
As previously reported, the IFPI has been increasingly concentrating its anti-piracy efforts on making the ISPs take responsibility for illegal file sharing, after a string of lawsuits against those who provide file sharing services, or who use those services, failed to do much to curtail the unlicensed sharing of music files online, despite much success in the court room. The argument is that the ISPs have in the past deliberately turned a blind eye to online piracy because illegal content sources on the net have often been a motivating factor for consumers to buy broadband internet services, especially before the relatively recent launch of legit audio and video services online. That means, the IFPI and other record label types say, the ISPs are profiting from copyright infringement, and to avoid being accused of authorising infringement themselves, they should quickly introduce measures to stop infringement - mainly filters that block access to illegal content sources and a policy to cut off customers found guilty of illegally file sharing.
The ISPs have been resistant to such proposals, not really wanting to become the content owners' police force, and normally citing privacy laws as a reason why such monitoring and filtering is not viable (though, of course, the ISPs do already do some such monitoring in relation to other online crimes, in particular child porn and terrorism).
But the IFPI's arguments in this domain haven't completely fallen on deaf ears, with some political types backing proposals to force ISPs to take more responsibility for protecting copyrights online. Most notably French President Sarkozy, who last November revealed plans to force the ISPs to act, though politicians in the UK, Sweden and Belgium have also indicated support. IFPI chief John Kennedy yesterday called on those politicians to act sooner rather than later in this domain, preferably with legislation at a European level to force the ISPs into action, and/or legislation in individual countries to the same effect.
In his introduction to the report, Kennedy said: "A turning tide of opinion is one thing - a concrete programme of action is another. There is only one acceptable moment for ISPs to start taking responsibility for protecting content - and that moment is now. After years of prevarication in the discussion, the French government's decision to seize the day is deeply refreshing. It shows an urgency of approach that is badly needed in every market where music is today being massively devalued by piracy".
Giving his take on the whole ISP debate, the boss of UK trade body BPI, Geoff Taylor, said this: "The investment the recorded music business has made, and continues to make, in new artists is vital to the overall health of British music. Record companies provide services for artists that enables them to focus on their music. That the business has been able to maintain its investment, and is beginning to generate significant income through online and mobile platforms, speaks volumes not only of the calibre of musical talent coming through but the business' ability to evolve. That progress is being made in this time of transition, and against a backdrop of unchallenged digital freeloading, is encouraging. But for this change to be fully effective in the long-term, we must successfully tackle a growing culture of taking music for nothing and challenge internet service providers' apparent unwillingness to partner in creating a digital environment where creativity is rewarded".
He continued: "We have been calling on ISPs for some time to take reasonable steps to deal with the massive online freeloading that occurs on their networks. Some have come to the table. But we have made little progress, and increasing numbers of their customers continue to use their internet accounts to download music illegally and distribute it to millions of others. Unpaid copying and downloading lies at the root of the recording industry's problems, and internet service providers must be at the heart of the solution. Government has repeatedly made clear that ISPs must stop dragging their heels, and reach agreements with rightholders. 2008 must become the year when talk becomes action".
PS: The IFPI's report also included some end of year stats for global download sales and a celebratory glass of Vimto is due to Avril Lavigne who topped the global download chart by shifting 7.3 million downloads of her song 'Girlfriend' during 2007.