How do we deal with illegal online music sharing?

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How do we deal with illegal online music sharing?

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• Publié par: ijefyhaw
• Nombre de lectures: 100
• Langue: English

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Music is a public good. As the Internet becomes more widely used, the problem of illegal music sharing is getting more serious. This issue will examine the free rider problem of online music sharing, and examine the attempt of the industry to curb online sharing.

H Examining public goods and the free rider problem

Author: Kwok Wai Keung

TheEconomist, a weekly news publication, reported the album sales to consumers have fallen by more than a third in the past decade, and illegal online music sharing is, according to the music industry, the major reason for this change.

C01 World News

DAILY NEWS

Album sales fall fifth year in a row

7 January 2010

According to the statistics released by British Music Recorded Industry (BPI), album sales dropped by 3.5% in 2009. Although 4.22 million singles were sold in the last week of 2009, the fall in sales of music CD did not slow down since 98% were digital downloads. As the fall in sales of music CD persists, the two best-known music retailers in the UK, Woolworths and Zavvi, closed down in 2009. The record-breaking high in single sales did not make up for the fall in album sales since digital downloads are not as profitable as physical CDs. As a result, record companies find it hard to recoup their investments on new bands and singers.