Piracy thrives because it meets an unmet demand

The Economist writes

there is growing evidence that the plethora of new services adds up to an attractive alternative to piracy for many (see article). In June a poll of Swedish users of file-sharing software found that 60% had cut back or stopped using it; of those, half had switched to advertising-supported streaming services like Spotify. In Denmark, over 40% of subscribers to TDC’s broadband-plus-music package also said they were making fewer illegal downloads as a result. In a British poll published in July, 17% of consumers said they used file-sharing services, down from 22% in December 2007. Music executives reckon people are moving from file-sharing networks to Spotify, though they may continue to download some music illegally.

Not that I told you so – but

All of this offers a lesson for other types of media, such as films and video games. Piracy thrives because it satisfies an unmet demand. The best way to discourage it is to offer a diverse range of attractive, legal alternatives. The music industry has taken a decade to work this out, but it has now done so. Other industries should benefit from its experience—and follow its example.

SMLXL on networked economics

The networked society needs networked economics.

Its about [1] discovery, [2] links, [3] metadata, [4] connectivity, [5] bundling, [6] recommendation engines [7] filtering, [8] context, [9] revenue share [10] interface with interference [11] contextual search [12] mobile

You get the point.

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