Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

1.4 million households delete music files, blame file-swapper suits

07 Nov 2003, 12:00 am

In August more than a million households deleted all the digital music files saved on their PCs, due to publicity surrounding the RIAA anti-piracy campaign, according to a survey released recently by marketing analysts The NPD Group.

In August more than a million households deleted all the digital music files they had saved on their PCs, according to a survey released on Wednesday by marketing analysts The NPD Group. The reason, says NPD, is the publicity surrounding the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) anti-piracy campaign.

The RIAA has been fighting a lengthy campaign against the illegal exchange of copyrighted music via on-line file-sharing services such as KaZaA. In June the RIAA announced that it would be turning its attention to individual pirates who exchange, "a substantial amount of copyrighted music", and not just the networks that facilitate the file swapping.

The first wave of 261 lawsuits was filed by the RIAA in early September, with a second batch of 80 lawsuits filed only last week. Many of these legal actions have now settled. However, if the NPD survey is correct, the effects of the RIAA's campaign appear to be having a wide-reaching impact on the file-swapping community.

According to the NPD, in August 1.4 million households deleted all the digital music files saved on their PC hard drives. Prior to August, deletions were at much lower levels – in May, for example, only 606,000 households deleted such files from their PCs.

The NPD found that file-sharing had decreased too, with the number of households acquiring digital music via file-sharing services dropping by 11% from August to September. During that same time period, the total number of music files downloaded dropped by 9%.

But another survey by the NPD Group found that consumers' overall impressions of the recording industry had been damaged by the RIAA campaign. Russ Crupnick, vice president of The NPD Group noted that:

"The music industry's success in reducing file-sharing activity has been impressive, but now the real work of winning back the hearts and minds of consumers must begin."