Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Combating Music Piracy Thesis

Evaluation Of Effectiveness Of Combating Music Piracy - Thesis Example Reduced music sales impact not just the industry but the country economy as well. It has also resulted in lower wages and job losses while impacting each of the numerous stakeholders in the industry. Several institutions and organizations have been formed and policies devised to combat music piracy. Many studies have been conducted to evaluate consumer behavior which promotes online piracy. However, no study has exclusively been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies adopted to combat music piracy. Combating piracy has become critical to the survival of the industry and hence this study aimed to evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies. With this aim, three objectives were stated in the first chapter. After extensive literature review the research strategy was explained. All three objectives have been achieved. The study finds that consumers find the prices of legal CDs and downloads high. If the music products are reasonably priced it could enable the common c onsumer to pay for it because high prices encourage them to engage in piracy. Legalizing file-sharing, educating the consumers, and collaborating with ISPs are strategies that have been found to be effective to some extent in combating music piracy. ... of the study 3 1.6 Limitations to the study 4 Chapter II Literature Review 2.1 Introduction 5 2.2 Piracy 5 2.3 Effectiveness 6 2.4 Piracy in music industry 6 2.5 Consumer behavior and piracy 9 Chapter III Methodology 3.1 Research Philosophy 12 3.2 Purpose of the research and phenomenon 12 3.3 Epistemology 12 3.4 Research strategy 13 3.5 Data collection 13 3.6 Justification for secondary data 13 3.7 Data analysis 14 Chapter IV Findings & Discussions 4.1 Findings 16 4.2 Piracy and music piracy 16 4.3 Consumer behavior 16 4.3 Effectiveness of policies and strategies 17 4.4 Recommendations for the industry 23 Chapter V Conclusion and Recommendations 5.1 Conclusion 26 5.2 Recommendations 28 References 29 Charts Chart 2.1 Staggered sales 9 Chart 4.1 Legalization has an impact 20 Chapter I Introduction 1.1 Background The digital age has many advantages but brings with it some disadvantages too. While digital music has become popular it is has also encouraged music piracy. Music is an art an d has been a part of human life from before the time of Jesus Christ (Bonner & Higgins, 2010). Music is basically a collection of sounds that generate rhythm. Over time the method has evolved and it is now possible to create music electronically. Music is creatively assembled by individuals or a group of individuals for the sole purpose of invoking rhythm. However, the music industry has changed drastically with the proliferation of the Internet. In fact the internet has destroyed the standard business model that has been in practice for decades. While earlier people used to purchase music from their local or favored store now it is possible to download music at the click of a button. Illegal downloading of music has become a business issue for management of music companies. Advanced