Survey: Spotify Reduces Illegal Downloading

Almost two thirds (62%) of those who admit to illegally downloading, say using Spotify has encouraged them to reduce the amount they download illegally or kick the habit altogether. The survey from price comparison website moneysupermarket.com on downloading and streaming also showed that one in eight in the UK (12%) admit to download illegally in the past six months. Illegal downloading is most prevalent among men (16% compared to 9% of women). Men under the age of 20 who admitted to the practice of downloading illegally was about 30%.

"Downloading music used to be mainly associated with illegal sites such as the old Napster, but now over a quarter (27 per cent) of people say they go to a digital source as first port of call; usually iTunes or Amazon, says James Parker, broadband manager at moneysupermarket.com. "With Spotify joining the ranks of legal music sites, illegal downloading seems set to become much less popular. With the new Spotify iPhone application and the new 'Monkey' tariff from Orange, which allows users to stream music from the orange site as part of the tariff, it will be interesting to see how these new mobile music services take-off. Streaming music for free or for a reasonable fee whilst on the move could spell the end for illegal downloading and could even send the CD the way of the mini-disc and cassette tape."