95% of college age people are criminals

[Feargal Sharkey, head of BMR]

Despite the scare tactics used by the RIAA, 95% of 18-24 year olds still pirate some form of music, according to this article from The Guardian, and in addition about 95% of all music downloaded is done so illegaly, versus the other 5% which is paid for using services such as iTunes or Amazon.com’s MP3 service and about half of all music that makes up most of the demograph’s library is unpaid for. The study was conduced by the lobby group known as British Music Rights. Here’s what their chief executive (and former lead singer of UK band The Undertones) Feargal Sharkey had to say -

“”For somebody who has spent 30 years in the music industry, you instinctively know this stuff is going on. But when you actually sit looking at your computer and see a number that says 95% of people are copying music at home, you suddenly go, ‘Bloody hell’,” he said.”

Sharkey also pointed out that he is not taking the RIAA stance of trying to punish these people, but rather wants to figure out how to change the industry so that musicians can still make a living doing what they do.