New study finds that, among other things, those who participate in filesharing purchase more content

[thedarkfreak]

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2013/01/new-music-survey-p2p-users-buy-the-most-no-one-wants-disconnection-penalties/


Obviously, it's only a single study, and more research needs to be done. But I do think it's interesting that filesharing may encourage people to actually buy the things they like.


Thoughts?

 

[thesilentman]

Well, this study has been done to death. I really think that the people who do this find quality of some sort and then choose to repay that. For instance, I'll throw my money at a music group that I particularly like, but I won't give another music group that I don't like my money. As for me, I won't pirate/fileshare it either. It really comes down to the person it seems.

 

[Fappy]

It's basically the same logic F2P business models utilize. Free samples + customer appreciation = $$$

 

[adamsaccount]

Makes sense. I never ever break the law because id get raped in prison, im very handsome.

 

[an annoyed writer]

I've got an interesting story about piracy: Music piracy on my part netted Bioware approximately $300 of my own hard earned cash. Way back in early 2010, I didn't give half a shit about Mass Effect, until a couple of Unreal Devkit shorts based on the Mass Effect universe came out on Machinima.com. The maker of these vids used multiple tracks from the Mass Effect 2 score and soundtrack. Naturally, I was interested, so to the Pirate Bay I went. I downloaded the Mass Effect 1 and 2 scores, and not too long later I decided I needed to hear that shit in its original context. I bought the first two games, and they were fantastic. I was hooked, and I wanted more. So I bought the books. And the comics. And the Iphone games. And a Shepard hoodie. And all of the music. Then some more music from Jimmy Hinson and Sam Hullick. And the Collector's edition of the third game. Then there were the copies my friends bought on my recommendation. At this point I'm wondering if piracy is the "Bane of the Artist's Existence (TM)" that many people and companies make it out to be. I don't think stealing is right, but something akin to a free sample can pull in a fan and they will drop hundreds of dollars for another piece of the pie. After that music hooked me, I know I dropped a shit-ton of money into that franchise. In the end they walked out with a 100% gain: the pirated scores were replaced with copies bought from Itunes. In the end I'm not sure what to think of the situation. It just doesn't feel as black-and-white as some people like to put it.

 

[DoPo]

Obviously, it's only a single study

"Only a single study" and then "new" in the title? OK, I have to ask this, have you been living under a rock for a while? They have these kinds of surveys roughly once or twice a year for some time now. It's what people are often quoting in piracy discussions (technically it's "that one study that one time showed this" but I don't blame them from not bothering to remember each and every one - I can't).

By the way, it's a survey about music - may have been a good idea to mention.

 

[tippy2k2]

I've always thought this question about these studies but have never written it out on a forum because....well....most piracy debates just circle round and round and round and round and nobody goes anywhere with it (I've been in plenty enough of them to see that):

Besides asking people in surveys, do they get this data from anywhere else? Every one of these studies that I've seen always says it's a survey (as in, they asked pirates if they buy stuff). Nothing personal but I'm not going to just take everyone's word on it. Is there actual evidence of this or are we just taking a pirate at his/her word?

*Note: Just to be clear. I am NOT being combative here. I'm not here to start the same argument we've seen dozens of times; I'm actually curious if there is more data than just surveys.

 

[Prime_Hunter_H01]

My curious mind, plus a bored summer, plus an SNES Emulator. A ROM of Shin Megami Tensei I played, and a claim to my money ATLUS made. Why the hell I did that pseudo poetry i have no idea. The same can be said about Front Mission, I was curious about SMT and Front Mission and downloaded the Roms of the SNES titles and became an Immediate fan of both series, leading to a massive scramble to purchase the entire collections of both series.

I don's have an opinon on the study but I can relate to an annoyed writer in that pirating something gained ATLUS my fandom and my money, and Square Enix more of my money.

Hell Sony got a Vita sale out of me because I was going hyper fanboy when I heard that Persona 4 Golden was coming out.

 

[Giddi]

I'm not surprised

 

[JoJo]

We shouldn't forget that correlation does not equal causation, this study is interesting but perhaps people who are particularly fans of media are therefore more likely to both buy and download content than those who don't enjoy media as much and so don't buy and pirate as much.

 

[PsychedelicDiamond]

I can see that. Companies trying to sell media are, after all, trying to sell a product. And it's self explanatory why the consumer would rather buy a product which he knows lives up to his standards. I hardly ever buy movies i haven't seen before... one way or the other. How would i otherwise know if i'd enjoy them?

 

[aba1]

I've got an interesting story about piracy: Music piracy on my part netted Bioware approximately $300 of my own hard earned cash. Way back in early 2010, I didn't give half a shit about Mass Effect, until a couple of Unreal Devkit shorts based on the Mass Effect universe came out on Machinima.com. The maker of these vids used multiple tracks from the Mass Effect 2 score and soundtrack. Naturally, I was interested, so to the Pirate Bay I went. I downloaded the Mass Effect 1 and 2 scores, and not too long later I decided I needed to hear that shit in its original context. I bought the first two games, and they were fantastic. I was hooked, and I wanted more. So I bought the books. And the comics. And the Iphone games. And a Shepard hoodie. And all of the music. Then some more music from Jimmy Hinson and Sam Hullick. And the Collector's edition of the third game. Then there were the copies my friends bought on my recommendation. At this point I'm wondering if piracy is the "Bane of the Artist's Existence (TM)" that many people and companies make it out to be. I don't think stealing is right, but something akin to a free sample can pull in a fan and they will drop hundreds of dollars for another piece of the pie. After that music hooked me, I know I dropped a shit-ton of money into that franchise. In the end they walked out with a 100% gain: the pirated scores were replaced with copies bought from Itunes. In the end I'm not sure what to think of the situation. It just doesn't feel as black-and-white as some people like to put it.

Very interesting and like you I tend to work the same way I steam most tv and if I like it I will buy the dvds (assuming they are reasonably priced). However it is worth noting for every person I know like myself I know at least 2 people who never buy anything and exclusively pirate. This is all just personal experience mind you this could change from group to group or area to area but the point is that it does go both ways.

 

[Owyn_Merrilin]

In other news, grass grows, birds fly, and brotha, the scout hurts people.

It's actually a pretty simple concept: pirates are exposed to more material. You can't buy something if you don't know it exists. While I'm sure there are some people out there who really do pirate absolutely everything they consume, it's more common that they use piracy to supplement a limited entertainment budget -- buying what they can afford, and downloading a few things on top of it. Convenience factors in, too. Not everything is available to legally stream/download, and it can take time to ship discs -- or even quite a bit of effort to try to find a hard copy in a brick and mortar store. I know I was disappointed the other day when I went to Best Buy and they didn't have a single DVD that was on my list of discs I had hoped to grab while I was there.

 

[Signa]

Very interesting and like you I tend to work the same way I steam most tv and if I like it I will buy the dvds (assuming they are reasonably priced). However it is worth noting for every person I know like myself I know at least 2 people who never buy anything and exclusively pirate. This is all just personal experience mind you this could change from group to group or area to area but the point is that it does go both ways.

I feel like asking this question is firing the starting pistol on the age-old debate, but do you think those 2 people would actually buy things if they couldn't pirate? My brother is one such of those people, and I don't think he'd buy much of anything if he couldn't pirate it. On the other hand, this study confirms what I know about some of my friends. They support the things they like, and let the useless crap get forgotten about.

 

[aba1]

Very interesting and like you I tend to work the same way I steam most tv and if I like it I will buy the dvds (assuming they are reasonably priced). However it is worth noting for every person I know like myself I know at least 2 people who never buy anything and exclusively pirate. This is all just personal experience mind you this could change from group to group or area to area but the point is that it does go both ways.

I feel like asking this question is firing the starting pistol on the age-old debate, but do you think those 2 people would actually buy things if they couldn't pirate? My brother is one such of those people, and I don't think he'd buy much of anything if he couldn't pirate it. On the other hand, this study confirms what I know about some of my friends. They support the things they like, and let the useless crap get forgotten about.

I think they would maybe not as much as me but they would at least buy some stuff. If they couldn't torrent anymore it isn't like they would just stop watching tv shows or listening to music or playing games. If they couldn't torrent they would be forced to buy things once in a whiles. ANYWHO not trying to start a argument this is all speculation and I do feel it goes different ways for different people.