Fw: [Air-l] Internet file sharing boosts music sales

[Hugh Brown]

Internet file sharing boosts music salesHI all,

To introduce myself: I'm not, strictly speaking, an Internet researcher, but I greatly value the work you all do and I have a particular interest in this topic (being a musician of sorts).  I edit an on-line journal devoted to Australian public policy, which we view as an exercise in e-democracy (see www.onlineopinion.com.au).

To get back to the point, I get tired of seeing these reports about research conducted by "professional" research firms, often financed by one side of the debate or the other, which are essentially based on self-reported behaviour (rather akin to the old tobacco industry-financed studies showing that smoking did not *cause* cancer). These studies are highly methodologically unreliable, and seldom provide a thorough account of the methods used.  They are also highly politically senstive and almost always used to beat up one side of the debate or the other.

Does anyone know of any rigorous academic research into this question?  I'd love to get my hands on some as part of a literature review I'm doing for an informal (ie not attached to any university) study I'm undertaking in my spare time (such as it is), using my own music, web-design skills and hypotheses.

Please let me know of anything that might help.

Cheers,
Hugh Brown
Editor, On Line Opinion,
www.onlineopinion.com.au
Ph     +61 7 3852 2138
Fax    +61 7 3252 9818
Mob   +61 409 622 395

  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Randy Kluver 
  To: 'Air-l at aoir.org' 
  Cc: Govindan Parayil 
  Sent: Saturday, May 04, 2002 12:16 PM
  Subject: [Air-l] Internet file sharing boosts music sales


  Here is an interesting report from Reuters which undercuts many of the intellectual property arguments related to online file sharing...

  Internet File-sharing Boosts Music Sales, Report Says

  May 03, 2002 16:20:35 (ET)

  WASHINGTON, May 3 (Reuters) - Internet users who download songs for free from unauthorized "peer to peer" services are more likely to increase their music purchases than regular Internet users, according to a report released on Friday. 

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