Illegal downloads...

This was mentioned in a lecture Deborah was running a week or two ago, in which she stated Illegal downloads have hurt film, album and single sales, causing them to drop rapidly thus threatening the film and music industries. However I retorted with "Single sales have dropped, but album sales have increased, plus exposure to more music increases the sale of concert/gig tickets and merchandise" or something to that effect... That was met with cynicism, so here's the article I was referring to:

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/illegal-downloading-what-happens-if-youre-caught-1736013.html?fb_action_ids=2636028975210&fb_action_types=news.reads&fb_source=other_multiline#access_token=AAADWQ6323IoBAEKCIuL6xZBkZAHw0Ye2FAnYxJCE9CKHj7vJR6FybPalTYRxFMMCae98qJwO9VkhiLybAxZB6sNNNhVwwX24CjJc82FRFHOQd4uK4rv&expires_in=6976

And the quote:

And album sales aren't haemorrhaging in the doom-mongering way we have been led to believe. Single sales have dropped, but 28 million more albums were sold last year than a decade ago, including digital sales. Live performances, which account for more than half of the industry's profits, are unaffected by downloads – and may even be boosted by the opportunity they offer for young people on tight budgets to sample the music they might like to hear at a concert. These are not arguments embraced by the music or film industries, which retort that only a small proportion of musicians and film-workers make a comfortable living. Their industries should be treated like other businesses, where not paying for a product or service is not tolerated. Geoff Taylor, the Chief Executive of the BPI, says: "There is not an acceptable level of file-sharing. Musicians need to be paid like everyone else."


~James