Piracy cost the UK music industry £1bn this year
The BPI’s latest report on the theatre of digital music, as compiled by Harris Interactive, has highlighted a big – albeit unrealistically inflated – number at the centre of the piracy debate.
The report estimates that pirated tracks accounted for three-quarters of all music downloads this year, and that this cost the industry close to £1 billion.
But as the Register, who wrote an article on the report points out, illegal downloads don’t necessarily equate to lost sales. Apparently, the BPI employs a substitution ratio of about 4.5:1, which means in real terms, the fiscal loss is more to the order of approximately £220 million (that’s according to separate figures from Jupiter Research).
On a more positive note, sales of digital singles are looking to crest over the £160 million mark for 2010, which is up around 7% on last year’s £150 million.
The BPI took the opportunity to urge Ofcom to push on with implementing the anti-piracy measures contained in the rushed-through Digital Economy Act. That’s the three-strikes-and-you’re-out malarkey for alleged illegal downloaders…
The BPI’s latest report on the theatre of digital music, as compiled by Harris Interactive, has highlighted a big – albeit unrealistically inflated – number at the centre of the piracy debate.
The report estimates that pirated tracks accounted for three-quarters of all music downloads this year, and that this cost the industry close to £1 billion.
But as the Register, who wrote an article on the report points out, illegal downloads don’t necessarily equate to lost sales. Apparently, the BPI employs a substitution ratio of about 4.5:1, which means in real terms, the fiscal loss is more to the order of approximately £220 million (that’s according to separate figures from Jupiter Research).
On a more positive note, sales of digital singles are looking to crest over the £160 million mark for 2010, which is up around 7% on last year’s £150 million.
The BPI took the opportunity to urge Ofcom to push on with implementing the anti-piracy measures contained in the rushed-through Digital Economy Act. That’s the three-strikes-and-you’re-out malarkey for alleged illegal downloaders…