Name: Colin Ryan
Student Number: 67452101
Subject: MN 398 – Business Research Methods
Research area: Consumers ethical thinking when illegally downloading music and the effect it has on the industry
Research Question: How has the consumer’s attitude toward piracy affected the music industry?
Word Count: 2,909

Introduction

“A decade’s worth of music file sharing has made it clear that the people it hurts are the creators... and the people this reverse Robin Hooding benefits are rich service providers, whose swollen profits perfectly mirror the lost receipts of the music business.” (Bono, IFPI Digital Music Report 2010)

The music industry changes at a
The presiding judge, Mr. Justice Peter Charleton, was critical of the lack of co-operation by certain ISPs, namely UPC, and granted an injunction directing ISPs to act against piracy; the law however prevented him ordering them to do so. (ibid) Louis Walsh, founder of boy bands Boyzone and Westlife said that the ruling makes it “virtually impossible for any young music entrepreneur, or self starting band, to make any money from the music industry in Ireland” (Walsh, 2010, p.14).
Walsh later cites the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) survey estimating $12.5 billion (€9.1 billion) is lost globally each year due to music piracy. Walsh states that “$2.7 billion of the figure represents the earnings of 71,000 people who might otherwise be employed in the industry” (ibid).
We can see that illegal downloading has caused problems for the industry. However, even if laws are changed to prevent the use of P2P file sharing sites, file conversion (taking audio off websites such as YouTube and converting them to MP3 files) is still a problem that has yet to be investigated.

Research Question and Objectives

Question
How has the consumer’s attitude toward piracy affected the music industry?

Objectives

• To find out the ethical thinking of a consumer when illegally downloading