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Big Music Is Devastated: RIAA
With RIAA boss Mitch Bainwol trying to convince congress that p2p operators can filter material on peer-to-peer networks, RIAA president Cary Sherman is over in the UK telling anyone who'll listen that online piracy is "devastating" the US music business.
The 31% decline in music sales between 1999 and 2002 is primarily due to piracy, Sherman told this week's Financial Times New Media and Broadcasting Conference in London.
"More music is being consumed than at any time in history, it's just that less of it is being paid for," he's quoted as saying in a BBC story here.
But not to worry. The industry is fighting back by licensing download services and taking legal action against music pirates, says Sherman, and the RIAA is also backing a large-scale "educational campaign" including public service adverts and targeting the university student market, a major area of piracy.
Could he be referring to the RIAA's sue 'em all intimidation campaign and the tremendous success it's having in 'persuading' American universities to let Big Music operate sales outlets on campuses?
Escalating online sales in the US suggest that lawsuits targeting pirates are having an impact on peer-to-peer file-sharing of copyrighted material, he says, although a recent study suggests this is also giving home users an excuse to use corporate equipment for file sharing..
But despite piracy fears, says the Beeb report, "analysts believe the future of the music industry lies in online digital downloads" that can be "easily transported and stored on a range of devices"
They've transformed the way people consume music, it says, adding that Chris Gorog, head of the failing Napster II corporate music download service, believes ventures like his will be highly profitable in the long-term.
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