Youngsters reject net piracy in favour of streaming

[Len]

Government minister of intellectual copyright praises subscription model, says 'there's no excuse for ongoing use of illegal services'

Young music and film fans are abandoning piracy in favour of legal streaming services, according to a new government report.

While overall levels of piracy remain the same compared to 2017, there has been a significant drop in illegal activity by some groups, most notably the massive market that is the 16-24 age group.

According to figures published by the government's Intellectual Property Office, which monitors copyright piracy through its Online Copyright Infringement (OCI) tracker, over half of 16 to 24 year olds are now paying to access at least one subscription service. The rise in subscription has led to a 7% drop since 2015 in infringement among this age group, which makes up a significant proportion of the music market in particular.

The news will be welcomed by music stars who have long bemoaned the reluctance of a new generation of digital native music fans to pay for tracks. Former guitarist and songwriter with Oasis, Noel Gallagher once complained that the public wasn't willing to hand over the price of 'a posh coffee' in return for music, while Metallica have even instituted legal action against serial illegal downloaders.

Sam Gyimah, the government minister for intellectual copyright, also celebrated the apparent shift in younger consumers' behaviour when he launched the report at the Alliance for IP's British IP Day event.

He said: “The variety of legitimate services now available to consumers is extraordinary and our world-leading creative industries have made great strides in meeting the demands of viewers and fans, so there really is no excuse for the ongoing use of illegal services. “Today’s findings are a positive step forward in stamping out online copyright infringement, but we cannot afford to be complacent. We are committed to tackling piracy and helping this vibrant sector go from strength to strength through our Creative Industries Sector Deal, a major part of our modern Industrial Strategy.”

Other key findings in the report include:

- The UK has a lower overall infringement rate (25% of online content consumers) than both Canada (26%) and Australia (38%)

- Levels of infringement varied by content type. TV programmes recorded the highest levels of infringement (23% amongst consumers of TV), with music (18%) and films (19%). Whereas infringement of software has decreased from 26% in 2017 to 20% this year. Infringement of sports content was 21%.

- An increase in the share of consumers citing convenience, quality and fears of viruses/malware/spyware as reasons for choosing paid for services over free services.

There's more good news for musicians in another report, meanwhile, by financial institution Citigroup, which states that the proportion of total music industry revenues scooped up by musicians themselves has gone up considerably over the last 15 years.

The research estimates that musicians received 12% of global music industry revenues in 2017, around five billion of a total of 43 billion dollars.

Some media outlets have criticised the industry for this apparently low percentage, but in reality this is a significant jump from just 7% in 2000, the very start of the era of downloading. Traditionally, although some indie labels have instituted 5050 deals with artists, the percentage of profits earned by artists who signed with major labels was often as low as 1-2%.