British music website PlayLouder has published a new survey which suggests that, while many music fans are still using illegal file sharing networks despite the arrival of legitimate download services like iTunes and Napster and the threat of legal action from the music industry trade bodies, they would be willing to pay to legally use P2P networks if such an option was available.
Of the 843 music fans polled, 90% downloaded music, but nearly half of those downloaders said they never paid for the music that they accessed via the internet. Two thirds said their preferred download file format was MP3, with only 5% opting for WMA, the Microsoft codec used by most of the major legit download platforms (except iTunes, of course). Over half said that they would prefer a legal P2P network to the differing options offered by legal download services, with 84% saying they would be willing to pay for such a service. 94% said they would be interested in an internet service provider that offered a legit P2P service, with 41% saying such a service might make them consider switching to a new ISP.
Of course PlayLouder are not completely independent on this topic - earlier this year they launched PlayLouder MSP, an internet service provider which offers customers access to a range of music services, including a legit P2P network. And a sample group of 843 people is hardly representative of the wider population - but nevertheless their survey makes for interesting reading.
Commenting on the report, PlayLouder MSP co-founder Paul Hitchman told reporters: "The response to our survey was immediate and overwhelmingly positive. The results clearly show that given the choice file-sharers would prefer to pay their ISP for a legal P2P service especially if it also offers them other music services such as live webcasts, radio and video streaming, and music discovery tools. If all ISPs in the UK were to offer such a service then this would already be generating more than £240 million p.a. in new revenues for the music industry".