06-07-2003, 07:08 AM
That Nielsen survey looks like a complete piece of bull stuff.
Right off the top, they say that they are "... the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis...". I seriously doubt that there is ANY standard for that at this time. They are probably Standards in their own Mind.
That aside, they ARE Nielsen, and the corporate guys will think of them when they want a survey. But, where does this survey data come from?
I suspect that the only reasonable way for Nielsen to acquire anything close to valid data would be with "spyware". Since Kazaa is the most popular peer to peer software for online music distribution, and the full version is heavy on spyware, it would seem likely that Nielsen is one of the companies that support Kazaa in order to acquire data.
What a concept.
Step 1: Record company brings out New Release.
Step 2: Nielsen makes software like Kazaa available, which permits pirating the New Release.
Step 3: Record company, concerned about New Release being pirated, pays Nielsen for survey on piracy.
Result: Record company sponsors the piracy of their New Release.
Beyond that, I really doubt that they could get honest and meaningful information on how many of the pirates actually do buy the records. I bet that the average pirate who chooses to respond to a survey will state that they do buy albums, even if they don't.
Based on my informal observation in Real Life, most people who figure out how to pirate music online don't buy music at all. Even the ones who don't get music online will pirate their friends CDs, if they have the equipment and know-how to copy a CD. It's the ones who are totally clueless about using computers who seem to have the large, legal record collections.
The survey WAS good for a chuckle, though.
-rcv-
Right off the top, they say that they are "... the global standard for Internet audience measurement and analysis...". I seriously doubt that there is ANY standard for that at this time. They are probably Standards in their own Mind.
That aside, they ARE Nielsen, and the corporate guys will think of them when they want a survey. But, where does this survey data come from?
I suspect that the only reasonable way for Nielsen to acquire anything close to valid data would be with "spyware". Since Kazaa is the most popular peer to peer software for online music distribution, and the full version is heavy on spyware, it would seem likely that Nielsen is one of the companies that support Kazaa in order to acquire data.
What a concept.
Step 1: Record company brings out New Release.
Step 2: Nielsen makes software like Kazaa available, which permits pirating the New Release.
Step 3: Record company, concerned about New Release being pirated, pays Nielsen for survey on piracy.
Result: Record company sponsors the piracy of their New Release.
Beyond that, I really doubt that they could get honest and meaningful information on how many of the pirates actually do buy the records. I bet that the average pirate who chooses to respond to a survey will state that they do buy albums, even if they don't.
Based on my informal observation in Real Life, most people who figure out how to pirate music online don't buy music at all. Even the ones who don't get music online will pirate their friends CDs, if they have the equipment and know-how to copy a CD. It's the ones who are totally clueless about using computers who seem to have the large, legal record collections.
The survey WAS good for a chuckle, though.
-rcv-