No surprise here – but a new report has confirmed music sharing on the internet is on the up. Research company Jupiter Media says music accounts for much of the file swapping on the internet, and that music exchange will grow even more when broadband internet access becomes the norm. Analysts now warn that unless the industry offers real alternatives soon, the legitimate digital music industry will be stillborn. Hopes to steer music swappers into legitimate download sites were also dealt a blow by the report – it says 44% of net users say they do not want to pay for online music in future.
"The digital music industry in Europe is in danger of being stillborn," Jupiter Media analyst Mark Mulligan told the BBC. "Legitimate file-sharing so far has just been about setting the tone and finding out what consumers want. There needs to be concerted action from record labels against peer-to-peer or strong enough alternatives." he said.
On the up side, double the number of people researched who had actually used illegal file-sharing sites said they would be prepared to pay for music downloads compared to those that had considered but never used illegal music swap services. Researchers suggest this might be because users are increasingly irritated by the number of advertisements and the file quality available with illegal services. These users, it is argued, may be persuaded to pay a small monthly fee if the ads went and quality was guaranteed.