Stream-ripping fastest growing form of music piracy
Stream-ripping is fast becoming the go-to method in music piracy.
With the help of certain sites and apps users are able to turn Spotify songs, YouTube videos and other content into permanent files to be stored on their phones and computers.
Record labels claim that “tens or even hundreds of millions of tracks are illegally copied and distributed by stream-ripping services each month.”
Ironically we recently reported on the upsurge in music industry profits both in South Africa and globally, so despite this new scourge to the industry it’s not all doom and gloom.
Research done by the Intellectual Property Office and PRS for Music claims that 15% of adults in the UK regularly utilize these services, with 33% of them in the 16-24 age bracket.
Overall use of such sites has seen an increase of 141.3% between 2014 and 2016, overshadowing all other illegal music services.
“As soon as we think we’ve come up with an innovative solution [to piracy], the pirates seem to come up with an even more innovative infringement tactic,” said Pippa Hall, Chief Economist at the IPO.
Ripping the stream a new one
Naturally users have their justifications for illegally gaining music:
- 31% of users say that music was already owned by them in another format.
- 26% wanted to listen to music offline.
- 25% want to listen to music on the move.
- 21% cannot afford to pay for music.
- 20% feel that official music content is overpriced.
- (These figures add up to more than 100%, as people were allowed to choose more than one response)
Many users also believe that these stream-ripping sites have the necessary rights and permissions to allow them to rip content.
They are unaware that they are doing anything wrong, let alone illegal.
Research is essential in finding a solution for these sites and ensuring that the artists and labels are protected for copyright infringement.
There was some good news that came from the IPO’s research: The average consumer spent 75 pounds on music last year compared to 68 pounds in 2015.
Where there’s a will, there’s a way and stream-ripping is one of the ways.
