'You wouldn't steal a handbag'

When he's not Twittering away, stuck in lifts, the UK's beloved Stephen Fry is a thoroughly good public speaker. He speaks with flair, confidence, eloquence and of course, wit.

One such example is at the 2009 I-Tunes festival, where his illuminating account of the history of copyright as as comprehensive as you will find anywhere.

He goes on to discuss his thoughts on file-sharing in an amusing way where it's really interesting to hear the voice of someone who works in the creative industries. 

It raises some interesting questions, but I direct you there rather as I think it's a good accessible background to set up some of the content to follow on this blog in the coming months.

Available to download for free from his official website: http://www.stephenfry.com/2009/07/27/series-2-episode-4-itunes-live-festival

Enjoy.

If you don't want to see who is winning in the match between digital and hard copies of music, please look away now..

Available to the public, the IFPI Digital Report 2012 can be found here.

Some findings to stimulate interest can be found below.

Digital music revenues to record companies has grown by 8% globally since last year, where some markets including in the USA deriving over 50% of their profits from digital mediums.

"28 per cent of internet users globally access unauthorised services on a monthly basis, according to IFPI. Around half of these are using peer-to-peer (P2P) networks.  The other half are using other non-P2P unauthorised channels which are a fast-growing problem" (p.2 of 'Facts and Figures').

The report goes into depth on the relative success of recent anti-piracy initiatives internationally, including site blocking. The next big thing reads to be increased involvement from Internet Service Providers.

It's a fantastic read, where it really paints a bright future for the music industry, charting the rise of subscription services.

The PDF also lists the most comprehensive database of legitimate music services, globally. There are around 500, in 78 different countries. Here in the UK, there are around 70 in addition to the big boys such as Spotify, Deezer and I-Tunes..

Why not check out Rara or Boomkat?

Inauguration

This blog aims to bring together the findings from research into music piracy as well as introducing general discussion points around the topic.

Furthermore, commentaries on ongoing technological and legislative changes will be presented along with relevant links to encourage further reading.

It is hoped that this resource will help bring attention to the wealth of research which has been conducted over the last decade to the right audience: you.