STUDY SUGGEST MUSIC INDUSTRY SHOULD LEARN TO LIVE WITH FREE DOWNLOADS

Sean Michaels, Guardian, UK - Music companies need to stop resisting and accept that illegal downloading is a fact of 21st-century life, according to a new study by music rights holders. Researchers analyzed the downloading of Radiohead's In Rainbows - which was made freely available through an official website - and found that a majority of fans still pirated the music.

"These non-traditional venues are stubbornly entrenched, incredibly popular and will never go away," said Eric Garland, co-author of the study by the MCPS-PRS Alliance and Big Champagne, an online media measurement company. Speaking to the Financial Times, he explained, "It's time to stop swimming against the tide of what people want".

Not only did many more fans illegally download the album than those who bought it in shops, they downloaded it from illegal P2P and torrent sites like Pirate Bay than from the official Radiohead site.

"Even when the price approaches zero," reads the report, "people are more likely to act habitually (say, using Pirate Bay) than to break their habit (say, visiting www.InRainbows.com)." . . .

Researchers pointed out that despite the illegal downloads, In Rainbows was a success - CD versions were bestsellers and Radiohead tours continue to sell out. Garland described the In Rainbows release as "stunt marketing at its best".