When People Can Steal Any Music They Want, They Steal the Hits

With the Internet and a little torrent knowledge, it’s possible to acquire just about any song from any band you want.  The entire catalogue of recorded music of the whole universe is available.  

Yes, there are those who source out the newest and coolest.  That might even be you.  But here’s a secret:  you’re in the minority.

When people steal music, the vast, vast majority of them steal the hits.  The same songs heard on the radio ad nasuem.  The same videos played on TV.  The same albums racked up from at Wal-Mart.  And this is repeated hundreds of millions of times each year.

TorrentFreak has posted its list of the most searched phrases and keywords for one of the most-used torrent sites through all of 2011.

The first thing you’ll notice about the list is that movies and TV shows rank far, far ahead of any music. Why? As music becomes more accessible, there’s less incentive to steal.  Streaming services, legal downloads and freebies make it less worthwhile to go through the hassle of finding virus-free music files, making sure they’re properly tagged, making playlists and then transfering them to whatever device you want.

I also think this shows massive consumer dissatisfaction with the status quo when it comes to movies and TV.  Remember that the Internet records any censorship or roadblock as damage and routes its way around it.  People hate the restrictions placed on DVDs.  People hate their cable companies.  People don’t want to wait for a TV network to broadcast the show they want.  And people want more media than they’re willing (or able) to pay for.

Just like people were willing to put up with the quirks and inadequacies of the original Napster and their kind ten years ago in order to get what they want when they wanted it.  And they’re even willing to forego the big screen experience for the small one, all for the sake of their wants and schedules.

But back to music for second.  The TorrentFreak list contains just one–that’s ONE–artist name in the most-searched download key words.  That’s Adele.  

And if I could link you to Big Champagne, the media measurement company (I can’t because this is proprietary information that you have to oay for), you’d see that the most traded songs on P2P networks and torrents are pretty much exactly the same songs you’ll see on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles chart.  Pretty.  Much.  Exactly.