Study Claims Illegal Downloads Doesn’t Hurt Music Industry

A new study out of the European Commission Joint Research Centre has released findings that indicate that illegal music downloads do not have any significant effect on the number of legal music downloads.

Luis Aguiar and Bertin Martins conducted the study, which used clickstream data in its research. The researchers studied data based on country, which showed that attitides and prevalence of piracy differs depending on home country. But one consistent result was that while piracy does affect physical music sales, it doesn’t seem to change the number of legal digital music sales.

“Perhaps surprisingly, our results present no evidence of digital music sales displacement. While we find important cross country differences in the effects of downloading on music purchases, our findings suggest a rather small complementarity between these two music consumption channels. It seems that the majority of the music that is consumed illegally by the individuals in our sample would not have been purchased if illegal downloading websites were not available to them.”

The study continued, siting that “The complementarity effect of online streaming is found to be somewhat larger, suggesting a stimulating effect of this activity on the sales of digital music.”

In other words, digital sales would be negatively affected if illegal downloading sites weren’t also available. This lead the researchers to determine that most of the music that was downloaded illegally was done so for music that wouldn’t have been purchased anyway. Additionally, it appears that those users who were most actively downloading music illegally were also responsible for nearly twice as much legal streaming and downloads as those who didn’t participate in illegal downloads.

Illegal music downloads remain frustrating to those in the music industry, however, for a number of reasons. Many people do illegally download music they might have bough otherwise, and it’s hard to measure that. Outside the realm of music, too, there is are ethical and copyright complications that arise when music is downloaded illegally. The music industry as a whole might be doing alright, but there can be no question that illegal downloads hurt individual artists—especially independent artists who really do need the money—and that’s not okay.

“Beautiful” Music is a Learned Trait, Study Claims

A recent study from the University of Melbourne has found evidence that what we perceive as beautiful music as compared to unpleasant music is a learned trait. This stands in stark contrast to hundreds of years’ worth of theories hypothesizing that sounds we find appealing are determined by the physical properties of our ears.

The researchers played pure tones and a variety of chords for participants, who were a mix of trained musicians and members of the general public. They rated the sounds on a five-point scale for both their dissonance and their familiarity. Results showed that when listeners heard unfamiliar chords, they were more likely to identify them as dissonant.

Trained musicians, who were more familiar with different chords and able to identify individual tones within them, tended to enjoy more harmonies than the general public.

Co-author of the study, Sarah Wilson says, “This showed us that even the ability to hear a musical pitch (or note) is learned.” Thus, it is possible to train ourselves to enjoy music—even music that is outside of our normal traditions.

A second study was conducted as a follow up to the first, in which 19 non-musician participants were trained to identify notes within specific chords. When tested several sessions later, not only could they identify specific tones in the chords, but they also reported that those chords sounded less dissonant than the ones they were unfamiliar with, regardless of whether or not they were technically harmonious.

This research makes sense when we consider how music differs from culture to culture. While we have one idea of what makes beautiful music, our idea is Western and not universally accepted. Traveling to other countries often reveals to us a different musical culture—which we may or may not perceive as beautiful.

We are creatures of habit and tend to gravitate toward what we know. But since we are also constantly learning and evolving, those tastes might change and adapt over the years. Given time and an open mind, we can find beauty anywhere. 

Didgeridoo to the Rescue?

It’s no secret that music can make life easier on us in many ways—it can effect our emotions, relieve stress, and even help our memory. Some people listen to music to help them sleep better at night. And some people learn to play an instrument that helps them sleep better.

Sleep apnea is a fairly common ailment many Americans struggle with—night after night. Obstructive sleep apnea is the most common and occurs when the airway is obstructed. People suffering from OSA wake up several seconds after their airway has been blocked, often choking and high with adrenaline.

Traditional treatment involves using a CPAP machine that pumps air through the nose at night to provide a steady flow of oxygen to the body. But not everybody relishes the idea of being hooked up to a sometimes inconvenient machine every night. Some want to find a better, more progressive cure for their problem.

That’s where our unlikely rescuer comes in: the didgeridoo. According to a study published by the British Medical Journal, learning how to play the instrument can strengthen the muscles in the back of the throat, toning the airway and making it less likely to collapse during the night. But the player has to be dedicated to learning and practicing the instrument for it to be effective, and it generally only works as an alternative for those with mild or moderate cases.

Experts agree that it is certainly plausible that playing the didgeridoo could have significant benefits to those with OSA, but they also agree that there needs to be more research conducted on the topic before they’ll give it an official seal of approval like the CPAP.