Why Do People Continue to Pirate Music When They Can Legally Get Music for Free?
I can’t figure out when people insist on pirating music when you can get pretty much anything you could ever want for free. And forget the free tier of streaming music services. Over the last ten years, there have been less than half a dozen times that I haven’t been able to find a song I was looking for on YouTube.
This, by the way, was my personal I-can’t-believe-I-found-it moment. I’d been looking for a long-lost 1987 12-inch single by a Stooges-like scuzz-rock band called 69 Tribe. I’d given up finding a recording of a song called “Bikers.” But then I searched YouTube.
That was so easy–and free. So why are tens of millions of people still getting their music from unlicensed sources?
MusicWatch just published the results of a survey on the subject which is the basis of this infographic. (Via RAIN)
Mainly it’s just a quality issue. MP3 on Youtube is only 128 kbs. If you want something higher you have to look elsewhere.