[opendtv] Re: News; Music sharing doesn't kill CD sales, study says

How do I get off this list? I tried using the web link.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:opendtv-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx]
> On Behalf Of Craig Birkmaier
> Sent: Wednesday, March 31, 2004 12:22 PM
> To: OpenDTV Mail List
> Subject: [opendtv] News; Music sharing doesn't kill CD sales, study
says
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> Music sharing doesn't kill CD sales, study says
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> March 31, 2004 12:00am
> Source: CNET Networks, Inc.
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> 2004-03-29, CNET Networks: A study of=3D20
> file-sharing's effects on music sales says online=3D20
> music trading appears to have had little part in=3D20
> the recent slide in CD sales.
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> =3D46or the study, released Monday, researchers at=3D20
> Harvard University and the University of North=3D20
> Carolina tracked music downloads over 17 weeks in=3D20
> 2002, matching data on file transfers with actual=3D20
> market performance of the songs and albums being=3D20
> downloaded. Even high levels of file-swapping=3D20
> seemed to translate into an effect on album sales=3D20
> that was "statistically indistinguishable from=3D20
> zero," they wrote.
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> "We find that file sharing has only had a limited=3D20
> effect on record sales," the study's authors=3D20
> wrote. "While downloads occur on a vast scale,=3D20
> most users are likely individuals who would not=3D20
> have bought the album even in the absence of file=3D20
> sharing."
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> The study, the most detailed economic modeling=3D20
> survey to use data obtained directly from=3D20
> file-sharing networks, is sure to rekindle=3D20
> debates over the effects of widely used software=3D20
> such as Kazaa or Morpheus on an ailing record=3D20
> business.
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> Big record labels have seen their sales slide=3D20
> precipitously in the past several years, and have=3D20
> blamed the falling revenue in large part on=3D20
> rampant free music downloads online. Others have=3D20
> pointed to additional factors, such as lower=3D20
> household spending during the recession, and=3D20
> increased competition from other entertainment=3D20
> forms such as DVDs and video games, each of which=3D20
> have grown over the same time period.
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> Executives at file-sharing companies welcomed the=3D20
> survey, saying it should help persuade reluctant=3D20
> record company executives to use peer-to-peer=3D20
> networks as distribution channels for music
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> The study, performed by Harvard Business School=3D20
> associate professor Felix Oberholzer and=3D20
> University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill=3D20
> associate professor Koleman Strumpf, used logs=3D20
> from two OpenNap servers in late 2002 to observe=3D20
> about 1.75 million downloads over their 17 week=3D20
> sample period.
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> That sample revealed interesting behavioral, as=3D20
> well as economic, data. Researchers found that=3D20
> the average user logged in only twice during that=3D20
> period, downloading about 17 songs. Some people=3D20
> vastly overshot that average, however--one user=3D20
> apparently logged in 71 times, downloading more=3D20
> than 5,000 songs.
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> The two professors narrowed their sample base by=3D20
> choosing a random sample of 500 albums from the=3D20
> sales charts of various music genres, and then=3D20
> compared the sales of these albums to the number=3D20
> of associated downloads.
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> Even in the most pessimistic version of their=3D20
> model, they found that it would take about 5,000=3D20
> downloads to displace sales of just one physical=3D20
> CD, the authors wrote. Despite the huge scale of=3D20
> downloading worldwide, that would be only a tiny=3D20
> contribution to the overall slide in album sales=3D20
> over the past several years, they said.
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> Moreover, their data seemed to show that=3D20
> downloads could even have a slight positive=3D20
> effect on the sales of the top albums, the=3D20
> researchers said.
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> The study is unlikely to be the last word on the=3D20
> issue. Previous studies have been released=3D20
> showing that file sharing had both positive and=3D20
> negative effects on music sales.
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> The Recording Industry Association of America was=3D20
> quick to dismiss the results as inconsistent with=3D20
> earlier findings.
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> "Countless well-respected groups and analysts,=3D20
> including Edison Research, Forrester, and the=3D20
> University of Texas, among others, have all=3D20
> determined
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> that illegal file sharing has adversely impacted=3D20
> the sales of CDs," RIAA spokeswoman Amy Weiss=3D20
> said in a statement. "Our own surveys show that=3D20
> those who are downloading more are buying less."=3D20
> =3D2Eend (paragraph)<<CNET Networks -- 03/29/04>>
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> << Copyright =3DA92004 CNET Networks, Inc. >>
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