According to The Local, an online news site in Sweden, legal downloading in Sweden is up 100% this week within the country. Is IPRED to blame (or thank)? It appears that way now, but my hunch is that the cause is simply because Swedes haven't yet found a loophole which enables them to sidestep the law and get access to decent P2P networks. Either that or consumers suddenly had a moral epiphany and decided to start paying for music (and which seems more likely to you...?).
As a legal professional and someone that specializes in helping artists protect their creative investments, I have mixed feelings about "illegal" downloading (in quotes because I firmly believe it won't be illegal for much longer...). On one hand, the bottom line is that it is illegal and I certainly can't condone it while it is. On the other hand, many times the vehicle for legal chance is a rebellion, and I believe most musicians and music consumers alike are screaming that the method of charging for recorded music is flawed in this new digital realm. Is the answer that consumers will completely stop paying for recorded music? Maybe not. But at the same time, the desire to consume entertainment has never been higher, and executives in the biz should be exploring alternative streams of revenue that people are still willing to pay for, instead of fighting the losing battle against one source.
Thoughts? Is the recording industry doomed to become a promotional tool for other sources of revenue? And with the consumer's desire to continue to USE recorded music, how will the recording industry get paid in order to meet that demand?
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