See, Piracy > Free, Seriously

We posted earlier this month that Radiohead’s newest album, “In Rainbows”, would be offered to fans at prices they set. There were no limits… fans could actually download the album and not pay a dime. This was an impressive move and one that would effectively give the recording industry a good kick in the pants. Well, almost.

You’d imagine though, that with an album being released for free, no one would have a problem with acquiring it legally. As it turns out, that’s not true at all. Although Radiohead pushed 1.2 million sales through their website, 100,000 each day (500,000 total to date) have been acquired through P2P networks. This could be taken a few different ways. A) Pirates have no idea about the legal offering, B) Pirates find it easier to acquire it through sites they already visit, without being nagged for information or C) Pirates love “stickin’ it to the man”. My bets on C.

While the numbers may seem drastic, it’s really more a tale of how late to the game the music industry has been. Piracy networks have been growing over the past couple of years, despite the industry’s declared “war” on illegal file sharing. The networks have grown into easy-to-use distribution methods for digital music — even easier than what Radiohead offered. Users could easily grab “In Rainbows” while downloading music from other artists.

Source: TechCrunch