Current state of downloading music files

Enjoy the music. It is not intended to offer legal advice or be a comprehensive guide to copyright law and the commercial uses of music. About Piracy Music theft—or piracy—is constantly evolving as technology changes.

Many different actions qualify as piracy, from downloading unauthorized versions of copyrighted music from a file-sharing service to illegally copying music using streamripping software or mobile apps. Read on to learn to distinguish between legal and illegal practices.

To report piracy, please click here. What the Law Says and What it Means Making unauthorized copies of copyrighted music recordings is against the law and may subject you to civil and criminal liability. Get help. The entertainment and media industry has been taking serious hits regarding illegal downloading of music and videos throughout the past decade.

Various websites have been nabbed for providing individuals tools for downloading movies that are currently still in theaters, for downloading album after album of popular, mainstream music.

Illegal downloading is one criminal action that has continued to climb in rate, even with the number of lawsuits going around. One of the most famous sets a lawsuits regarding illegal downloading was the RIAA lawsuits that occurred. The RIAA company had decided to take matters into their own hands regarding illegal downloading; this particular label threatened legal recourse and filed hundreds to thousands of illegal downloading lawsuits.

Family is preeminent for most publics but work, material well-being and health also play a key role. Pew Research Center now uses as the last birth year for Millennials in our work. President Michael Dimock explains why. Republicans and Democrats differ substantially over several sources of meaning in life, including faith, freedom, health and hobbies.

About Pew Research Center Pew Research Center is a nonpartisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes and trends shaping the world. It conducts public opinion polling, demographic research, media content analysis and other empirical social science research. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. It is a subsidiary of The Pew Charitable Trusts. Newsletters Donate My Account. Research Topics. Who is doing the downloading? In a related finding, students are also more likely to be music downloaders than non-students.

Only a quarter of non-students report downloading files. Internet users living in households that earn less income are more likely to download music. Broadband users and frequent users of the Internet are much more likely to have ever downloaded songs.

Downloaders are Copyright Care-free Pew Internet findings show that the majority of those who download music are not concerned about the copyright status of those music files. Younger Americans are less likely to be concerned about copyright than any other age cohort. Student status is also negatively associated with concern about copyright rules. Full-time students overwhelmingly express a lack of concern over the copyrights of the files they download—4 out of 5 say they are unconcerned.

Parents are more likely than non-parents to say that copyright is a concern for them, though it is still only about a third of parents, and a quarter of non-parents who say that. Indeed, 68 percent of Americans who took part in a survey in early stated that the most important feature of music streaming services was the ability to listen on multiple devices. Overall, the music industry in the U. The digital music average revenue per user is estimated to amount to This text provides general information.

Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.

Global digital music revenue Global digital music revenue through downloads in Global digital music revenue through streaming in Market leaders Most popular audio streaming service in the U. Bestsellers Top-selling digital song in the U. Streaming Share of weekly music listening time spent streaming. User Behavior Share of music consumption accounted for by physical albums in the U.

S in