By Will Sturgeon, 13 October 2004 14:50
NEWS A perhaps surprising 33 per cent of iPod users claim their music player is free from any illegally downloaded tracks and the majority have poured cold water on Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's suggestion that 'stolen' is the most common format of music on an iPod.
In total only 32 per cent of respondents, in no way a majority, admitted more than half of the music on their player is 'stolen', with 17 per cent claiming all the files on their iPod have been obtained without due attention to issues of copyright.
The third of respondents who favour honest ownership are joined by 12 per cent of respondents who admit 'one or two tracks, but no more' are illegally procured, while 11 per cent admitted that figure may be as much as a quarter of all the files on their iPod.
While the findings will doubtless prove cause for concern for the BPI and the RIAA, they would appear to suggest there are better places to start the copyright witch-hunt than among the iPod using community.
The reason for this is likely in part down to the popularity of the legal iTunes service which synchs with its iPod companion product.
silicon.com reader, and proud iPod owner Tim Liszt, from Oregon, USA, said: "The music on my iPod - all 3,876 tracks - is either music purchased from Apple's great music store or from my existing collection of CDs."
If anything, the popularity of iTunes is driving sales of legal music.
"I have spent more money on legal music since owning my iPod," said Liszt.
Comments
There are 11 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous
So 44% admit having illegal tracks.
How many don't admit it? (Ed note. Why would they lie in an anonymous survey?)
Steve Ballmer was right then, iPod users aren't as white as their devices!
Of course, the same would be true if it were made by Microsoft.
Get real!
2. Ken Thompson
Tim Litz's comment about his spending is also true for myself. Before MP3 I rarely bought CDs. Now I can build my own collections of tracks my purchase of music, CDs or purchase of tracks from Virgin, has rocketed.
3. Dean Barrett
Legally downloaded music from Apple/Napster etc. is way dearer than Woolworths !! - Not really an incentive to stay legal...
4. anonymous
Will, Biased?
I think so, Lets see:
Lets put some spin on the statistics.
Its only illegal if more than half of your tracks are well, illegal. Hmm.
But hey if I buy some more legal CDs then that makes it OK. So if I also earn money, its OK to rob a bank? Hmm.
Unfortunately Tim L. is in the minority as your survey shows, and may I suggest that those who chose to respond to it will not be among the worst offenders?
Come on Will, how about some balanced reporting? Or are there too many iPod sponsored links?
5. anonymous
Its been a while, but I used to download tracks, sometimes whole albums, to have a listen to a new artist before going and spending my hard earned money on a CD that could potentially end up as a coffee cup mat.
I know its not legal, but its how I bought a lot of CDs in the recent past. I suspect that some of the record companies have made more money out of me (and other people like me) from this kind of practice than they would have without "file sharing".
Why do I go out and buy the CDs when I already have the whole album? Because the quality of the mp3s available via file sharing is generally appalling. I like to look at the cd sleeves and I can't play MP3s in my car. ;)
Why have I stopped downloading music? Well, basically because most peering software and the computers that use it are rife with viruses, spyware, ad-ware etc. I think that now that broadband is becoming more available in the UK and people are beginning (slowly) to learn about the dangers of the internet, peering software will be used less and less.
I think that percentage of people with completely legitimate tracks or only one or two ripped tracks is going to steadily increase and I don't think it will be because of things like iTunes.
You are never going to get 100%, but 45% is a fair start. I wonder what the percentage of people who copy albums to tape is/was.
I think Anon from Scotland's point was how many would not respond to a survey because of the number of illegal mp3s they have, even if the survey was anonymous. People are suspicious and on the internet nothing is entirely anonymous.
btw - your stats add up to 105% ;)
6. Mark Lysaght
With a name like Liszt, I'm not surprised he's legal. Frankly I would be amazed if less than 50% of music on IPods was illegal. The music industry has inadevertently created a situation it can no longer control.
7. Mark SPLINTER
I lied in an anonymous survey, a "youth behaviour" thing for the council. Didn't trust the people conducting it. They were my teachers at school. Afterwards I saw one of them in the corridor flicking through the supposedly confidential responses, presumably matching up handwriting to answers.
Surveys are totally useless unless your aim is to obscure the truth.
As for illegal music, the people who are most ripped off are the ones least deserving of "compensation" for their "labour", they don't make music anyway. Eminem and Madonna have enough money, and their egos alone are all the incentive they need.
8. anonymous as well
Anon from Scotland - you seem to have a problem with Ipods - and the point.
Your comments are directed against Ipod users having ANY 'stolen' music at all, but this is not what the article was about. This is a response to Ste Ballmers claim that 'the MOST COMMON' form of music on an Ipod is 'stolen'. I think the statistics (which, admittedly, don't add up too well) show that the respondants claim otherwise. Short of calling every Ipod a liar, you must accept that there is at least a possibility that he was wrong.
Also, the principle reason for the strength of the Ipod community's indignation, is that the VAST majority of 'stolen' music exists on MS platforms. The iPod/iTunes phenoenon has achieved its success by pioneering LEGAL downloading (just look at the iTunes numbers).
And no, I'm not an iPod user.
9. anonymous
I steal music online
10. anonymous
I steal music offline on file sharing. I see nothing wrong with it. Wow im ripping someone off a half a penny. I dont care if its as you call it STEALING. My ipod has 1,306 songs and there all stolen. So I dont want to go buy a 20 dollar cd when I know I can get it for free. I would have spent over 1,000 dollars in itunes or napster but I didn't. I take music and so do my friends it becoming comman and if they find away to block file sharing I'll find away to GET IT BACK!!!!!!!
11. Wilson Bradley
Izzat so? Just do the math, ya idjit. So far, Apple claims they have sold 250 million iTunes songs, and 10 million iPods. That works out to only 25 songs per iPod. Even on an iPod mini or first generation iPod, that's only about 3% of the total capacity. Do you honestly believe that BS that all iPod owners pay for all their music?