A new study from the University of Hertfordshire, in England, found that most young music pirates say they’re willing to pay for legal file-sharing services.
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A new study from the University of Hertfordshire, in England, found that most young music pirates say they’re willing to pay for legal file-sharing services.
The survey, conducted on behalf of British Music Rights (a music-writing and publishing-industry group), found that 63 percent of respondents age 14 to 24 copped to illegally downloading music. Of those who share music illegally, 80 percent say they would use a legal file-sharing service, such as an unlimited download service for which they paid a monthly fee.
Among other interesting findings, the survey also showed that less than half of all respondents had learned about copyright. Those who knew about copyright were more likely to have learned about the concept from “informal sources (friends, newspapers, Web sites) than from formal lessons at school or university.”
Rather than forecasting the doom and gloom common in industry accounts of young people’s attitudes toward stealing music, this study was surprisingly optimistic: “[I]t is quite clear that this young and tech-savvy demographic is as crazy about and engaged with music as any previous generation. Contrary to popular belief, they are also prepared to pay for it, too. But only if offered the services they want.”—Catherine Rampell
