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P2P music file-sharing:
Changing the face of the U.S. record industry
Executive Summary
With the introduction of Napster, the first P2P network, the music industry has been experiencing some major changes. Through the past five years, P2P file sharing has been gaining popularity as a medium to download music. Since the onset of P2P file sharing, record companies have experienced a steady decrease in album sales. For that reason, we have decided to concentrate our marketing research effort on finding out the main factors that have influenced this change from traditional retailing to individual file sharing. Because of the purpose of the study, we outlined the following objectives to be completed: (1) define the attractive characteristics of file sharing over purchasing music from traditional means; (2) discern how widespread file sharing is and pin-point the chief users; and (3) assess possible strategies that music companies can use to utilize the Internet, increasing profits through innovative means.
It was decided that evaluation of features of P2P downloading was a major aspect to study. Our questions focused on the valuable attributes of P2P, such as cost, variety, and availability. ... Furthermore, we offered possible strategies as a means to gauge the possibility for record companies to use the Internet to make up for lost revenue. We also expanded our research to include the recent legal actions of the music industry against the users of P2P. ... Preliminary tests uncovered that a majority of respondents use P2P (63%), and the largest demographic was Caucasian males. Further tests uncovered that the absence of cost is a main motive for downloading using P2P programs. ... s.
Further analysis uncovered a marked impact of the music industry’s legal actions. A large percentage of individuals who use P2P software download less or more cautiously as a result. Furthermore, offering unlimited downloads for a monthly fee seemed to be a popular action that record companies could take, with the average cost per month of $13. ... Record companies depended heavily on these stores to generate sales from artists retained under their label. ... The development of peer-to-peer (P2P) technologies has enabled individuals to share music across the Internet. ... The idea of spending nothing rather than the 12 to 15 dollars it costs to purchase a record album has and continues to gain momentum in the U.S. ... Indeed, record labels have been experiencing a steady decline in album sales. As the labels suffer, the artists dependent on royalties from record sales suffer as well. The lack of revenue generated by record companies is an area of growing concern. Due to the concurrent rise of use and availability of P2P file sharing programs, it is probable that this new development is, in large part, responsible for the recent slip in record sales.
Purpose of Study
P2P file sharing has proven to be a main reason for the decline in music albums sold. For that reason, this study was designed to find out the main factors that have influenced this change from traditional retailing to individual file sharing. To this end, we decided to gather information addressing three aspects of the issue: (1) define the attractive characteristics of file sharing over purchasing music from traditional means; (2) discern how widespread file sharing is and pin-point the chief users; and (3) assess possible strategies that music companies can use to utilize the Internet, increasing profits through innovative means.
Research Methods
Given the fact that college age students (aged roughly 18-27) represent a large segment of P2P file sharers, we have focused efforts to that end. ...
Research objectives
Our objectives for the project are as follows:
Establish the attractiveness of file sharing over purchasing music through conventional means using the following criteria:
§ Cost
§ Convenience
§ Music selection
§ Quality of download
Undertake a descriptive research design to define the chief users of file sharing through the following attributes:
§ Frequency of use
§ Genres of music typically downloaded
§ Demographics of users
§ Access capabilities
Assess whether the following can be used by record labels to profit from the use of file sharing by college age students:
§ Official record label websites featuring high quality music files
§ Supplemental band websites featuring rare recordings
§ Reduced price
§ Monthly subscriptions
§ Single track/ album downloading options
Data analysis
Demographics
Gender
Conducting a frequency analysis on the gender of respondents exhibited that males accounted for the majority at 42 cases, while females accounted for the remaining 33. ... 5
Usage of P2P programs
Our survey also determined the amount of respondents actually used P2P programs. Among the respondents, 63% stated that they do use P2P programs and 37% stated they do not use any file sharing programs. ... 6
Also, the respondents who use P2P programs were asked to point out the program most frequently utilized; 51% using KaZaA, 18% using WinMx, 16% using iMesh, 4% using Bearshare, and 11% using other programs such as Limeware, DC++, and Overnet. ... 7
Time spent downloading
Respondents who do use P2P programs were also asked how often they download files from the Internet. ... The figures state that 17% use P2P programs daily, 31% use weekly, 26% use monthly, and 26% use every few months.
Approximate Word count = 4274
Approximate Pages = 17.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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