by Duke

A new Ipsos Mori poll suggests that cutting people’s internet access off for file sharing will do more harm than good for the failing music industry. It turns out people who illegally download the most music also spend the most money on it, using file-sharing as a vehicle for finding new music to buy.

Cutting these people off from their means of discovering the music they want to buy will have obvious economic repercussions for people who want to sell music.

From The Independent:

“The latest approach from the Government will not help prop up an ailing music industry. Politicians and music companies need to recognise that the nature of music consumption has changed, and consumers are demanding lower prices and easier access,” said Peter Bradwell, from the think-tank Demos, which commissioned the new poll conducted by Ipsos Mori….

“…The people who file-share are the ones who are interested in music,” said Mark Mulligan of Forrester Research. “They use file-sharing as a discovery mechanism. We have a generation of young people who don’t have any concept of music as a paid-for commodity,” he continued. “You need to have it at a price point you won’t notice.”

Instead, the British Parliament is poised to adopt the counter-productive measure of cutting people off without due process, as promised. After all, a promise from a politician is still a promise. Ask British Business Secretary Peter Mandelson.

See also: Heavy Illegal Downloaders Buy More Music
and POLL: Illegal Downloaders Buy the Most Music

Technorati Tags: Boing Boing, Copyright, cory doctorow, peter mandelson, rachel shields

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