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Music industry deemed 'more untrustworthy'

New research suggests public don't trust music industry figures

April 21, 2008 | 4 Comments
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New research has suggested that public trust of the music industry has fallen dramatically over the past year.

PR agency Endelman found that 31 per cent of people polled in a new research study said they trusted the music industry. A year ago the figure was 47 per cent.

The company found that 46 per cent of those polled (who were aged between 18 and 34) said that they would ignore a music company that they didn't trust's advertising and marketing campaigns, reports The Guardian.

The figures come after recent moves by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) to clamp down on illegal downloaders. The body has suggested that people who illegally download persistently should have their internet connections severed. Internet service provider (ISP) Carphone Warehouse was the first ISP to publicly oppose this suggestion.

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Comments (4)

wellduhobviously

Apr 21, 2008

It's not really a question of trust. As with any creature backed into a corner, the immediate response from the record industry when faced with all these wonderful new ways for people to share music was to lash out without thinking about the long-term implications.And I'm not just talking about the persistant legal harassment of music fans who may or may not be sharing music illegally, although that is absurd.No, take for example recent record industry unnovations like those plastic iTunes cards you can buy in Starbucks. Yes, pay full whack for a piece of plastic in a bricks-and-mortar store that allows you to download a single, low quality copy of an album. With DRM, no less.See also: albums on USB drives; DVD singles.Rather than go all out and embrace digital (even if it is long after the horse has bolted), they keep taking these silly baby steps that highlight how out of touch they are with how people consume music.If the majors want to stay in the game, they need to come up with a serious alternative to all these different download sources. I'm talking...- DRM-free.- High bitrate, multiple formats.- Prices that reflect the reduction of costs between physical and digital media (paying CD prices for binary data is a joke).- A vast catalogue. Not just the content from one label. Or a few. Content from all labels. And by content, I don't just mean singles and albums - I mean live shows, rarities, remixes and other items you cannot get elsewhere, too.Of course, this is just pissing in the wind. The majors do not listen to anyone but their shareholders, and judging by idiots like the guy from Terra Firma who took over EMI, the shareholders talk louder than music fans.

drgonzo2012

Apr 21, 2008

but when was the music industry ever 'trustworthy'? Their whole existence is to make money through manipulation. Its like a kid being left alone with that dodgy neighbour who once had those 'allegations'. Music is like religion to the young and the companies know this...which is why they will sell the same product as many times as it can 'Look kids, this version has a different picture on the cover and that remix you like, buy it or you're not a true fan'.Of course since the advent of pop idol/x factor, the industry is 'growing its own' to cut down on investment.

Lewis Jamieson

Apr 21, 2008

Firstly bear in mind who is surveyed. Then ask yourself, what does 'trust' mean. That the album they say is 'the best yet' is really that or you would leave your firstborn with them. Who cares whether people trust the music industry, I work in it but we're not the story, the bands and artists are. If you trust them and think they are worth your attention, buy their music, if you don't, don't. As for the record companies attitude to DRM and downloading, couldn't agree more. Their actions have to a great extent precipatated the crisis they face but trust has absolutely nothing to do with this. Did anyone trust Colonel Tom Parker? Didn't hurt Elvis did it?

petedohertysdealer

Apr 21, 2008

I wrote a little article on this at [url=http://www.shovelleduplikemuck.com/display.php?subaction=showfull&id=1207039136&archive=&start_from=&ucat=1&]shovelleduplikemuck.com[/url] - the theory that the music industry is so keen to shut down filesharing due to lost revenues doesn't add up. The extremity of the reaction far outweighs the revenues lost, which isn't too much. Gigs have surpassed CD sales as a way to gain revenue (although this may have been aided by filesharing) so persuing legal action to stop filesharingis a massive reaction to a problem that isn't as big.My theory is that music companies are losing control of which bands will become successes. As we now have access to all bands via myspace and filesharing - not just those a record company can crowbar onto the radio - we can download a band and judge them before we buy the CD, so we can bypass much of the music companies promotion as we can judge a band directly. Record companies won't be able to remove myspace, however they can manipulate it with featured content and paying people to run band profiles, however they have absolutely no control over the music that is listened to via P2P filesharing.