THE EFFECT OF ILLEGAL DOWNLOADS AND PIRACY IN THE MUSIC INDUSTRY: AN INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVE

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Acknowledgement

I will use this chance to thank every person who has helped me in any manner which includes my course facilitator, my research teacher and especially my family, without their tremendous help and contribution this report would never have materialized.

DECLARATION

I [type your full first names and surname here], hereby make a declaration that the matter used in this dissertation proposal consist of my own hard work, during the work I never took any aid from anyone and this report has never been used before for any sort of examination towards any degree. Also, this proposal is representing my own thoughts and opinion and it is not necessary that the University have the same frame of mind.

Signed __________________ Date _________________

Abstract

In this research we try to explore the concept of “International Music Illegal downloading” in a holistic context. The main focus of the research proposal is on “Music illegal downloading” and its relation with “Digital Music Sales”. The research also analyzes many aspects of “Music illegal downloading” and tries to gauge its effect on “Digital Music Sales”. Finally the research describes various factors which are responsible for “Music illegal downloading” and tries to describe the overall effect of “Music Illegal downloading” on “Music sales”.

Table of Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTII

DECLARATIONIII

ABSTRACTIV

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION1

Background of the research1

Problem Statement2

Research Aims and Objectives2

Significance of the Research3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW4

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY10

Research Design10

Literature Search10

Keywords:11

CHAPTER 5: ANTICIPATED RESULTS14

REFERENCES16

Chapter 1: Introduction

Background of the research

The field of music is one of the largest industries globally having revenues in billions of dollars annually. But the illegal downloading in this market has badly hurt the music market; the recent rise in music market has badly hurt the music revenues globally. Digital illegal downloading of music, or the unlawful act of downloading of copyrighted music without paying anything and without permission, has been a topic of great debate from the time when Shawn Fanning developed Napster in mid 1998. The digital format was developed by Shawn Fanning for his Peer-to-peer software namely Napster, which was the 1st mainstream and user friendly program which allowed the users to share music files among themselves, thus they got a way to exchange free music on the internet. Due to this the music artists and the music companies could not get any benefit for this music exchange, and they termed this free exchange of music as “Illegal downloading”. A research conducted by International Phonographic Market Federation (IFPI) showed the fact that immediately after the introduction of forums for free music exchange the worldwide revenues of music showed a sharp drop, and the music market blamed the P2P networks for this.

The focus of this research will be the effect of unlawful downloads and music illegal downloading on the global music revenues. It will try to work out whether sale of music in other countries which are experiencing the problem of digital music illegal downloading at different areas have experienced a phenomenon of the same nature ...