MUSIC PIRACY IN CHINA

Abstract

ABSTRACT The global recording industry has numerous advantages from the fast-evolving digital music market place. In 2014, the industry's global digital revenues increased to US$6.85 billion with annual business growth rate at 6.9% (IFPI, 2015a). Changing the views and attitudes on intellectual property protection of young music lovers must begin. At the same time, the change sometimes slow and costly across different countries. An interesting picture appears in the statistics provided by IFPI (2015a), the legitimate music markets have developed at different speeds in different countries. There was strong growth in South Korea (i.e. annual market growth at 19.2% in 2014) but relatively slow in China (i.e. annual market growth at 5.6% in 2014). The present study therefore performed a more detailed investigation of the basic elements of music market development and piracy problems in China. Rather than focusing on law enforcement alone, the present study concentrated equally on both the situational and social influences on the development of legitimate music market in China. Keywords Digital Music Market; Music Piracy; Social Influences; Situational Influences