Music

Report: More Than £340m Worth of Songs Have Been Illegally Downloaded in the UK So Far This Year

There’s an interesting story in the Daily Mail that says more than £340m ($536m CAD) worth of music was filtched from the Internet in the first six months of 2012. 

And before anyone goes blaming The Pirate Bay, remember that it was blocked earlier this year. Downloaders have merely found other ways to get their fix of free music.

Obviously, this is of major concern.  No wonder so many shops are closing up. Plus music is a major British export, accounting for £1.2billion in trade annually.  

This new story sort of jibes with this infographic on cities that share the most songs.  Actually, it’s worse.

The worst city for illegal downloads?  Manchester, followed by Nottingham and Southampton.  London ranked 20th.  

The most popular downloads were current albums from big stars like Rihanna.  But lest you think all this thievery can be traced to kids, it’s worth noting that in Bournemouth, a place known as a retirement community, the most most popular stolen music was the discography of The Eagles.

I would LOVE to see a similar report generated for Canada.

Alan Cross

is an internationally known broadcaster, interviewer, writer, consultant, blogger and speaker. In his 40+ years in the music business, Alan has interviewed the biggest names in rock, from David Bowie and U2 to Pearl Jam and the Foo Fighters. He’s also known as a musicologist and documentarian through programs like The Ongoing History of New Music.

Alan Cross has 39573 posts and counting. See all posts by Alan Cross

2 thoughts on “Report: More Than £340m Worth of Songs Have Been Illegally Downloaded in the UK So Far This Year

  • People illegally download–because they can–and it won't stop anytime soon. That's pretty much it in a nutshell

    Reply
  • Not to mention the Daily Mail's journalistic integrity is ultra suspect. I'm surprised they didn't claim illegal immigrants are behind it all.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.