Americans Think Downloading Music For Personal Use Is An Innocent Act.

While the news media have been filled with stories about what some are calling “Internet music piracy,” a large majority of the American public views downloading music for personal use as an innocent act, and thinks the high price of CDs leads to a lot of downloading. These are the results of a Harris Interactive survey of 2,306 adult Americans conducted online between September 16 and 23, 2003.

Fully three in four adult Americans (75%) agree that “downloading and then selling the music is piracy and should be prohibited, downloading for personal use is an innocent act and should not be prohibited.”

This is consistent with results of a Harris Interactive survey of teens released in October 2003 which showed that roughly three in four teens feel that downloading music files without paying (74%) and letting others download files from them (78%) should be legal.

An almost equal 70% say, “If the price of CDs was a lot lower, there would be a lot less downloading of music off the Internet.”

The potential financial impact of downloading on musicians and recording companies may not be fully understood by the American public. Nearly two of three adult Americans (64%) agree that musicians and recording companies should get the full financial benefit of their work. While the music industry views downloading as an issue of property rights, agreement with the three statements reported on to this point is at virtually identical levels among Republicans and Democrats, and liberals and conservatives.

While only a small majority of adults (54%) agree, “downloading music off the Internet is no different from buying a used CD or recording music borrowed from a friend,” the differences by age are large. Younger people are much more likely to agree with this statement — 70% of 18 to 24 year olds and 66% of 25 to 29 year olds agree; and there is a decline with age — only 36% of people 65 and older agree with the statement.

All of this suggests that the music industry is fighting an uphill battle in winning the hearts and minds of Americans to support prohibitions against downloading. Their opportunity is to make the as yet unmade link in the public’s consciousness between downloading and its financial impact on musicians and recording companies.