Michael Jackson SELLS 2.6 Million Digital Downloads

I’ve never really given much value to the absurd figures thrown around by the RIAA when it comes to revenue lost due to piracy.  Aside from being based on guesses and estimates, it always fails to take into account revenue generated due to the same piracy (increased sales for concerts, etc).

Most importantly, with iTunes going DRM-free and the general accessibility of legally accessible music on the rise, I just don’t believe that piracy is the real problem at all.

One good example of this is:

…based on preliminary sales numbers from Nielsen SoundScan, 2.6 million Michael Jackson (his work with Jackson 5 and the Jacksons included) digital downloads were sold in just one week.   LINK

Yup, even though Michael Jackson’s music is readily available on all the major torrent sites, it looks like most people just went ahead and paid to download the music.

Why? Well, first, they knew exactly what they were getting. Unlike trying out a new band and wishing you didn’t need to plunk down the better part of $20 just to check them out, everyone buying Michael Jackson tunes did so with full knowledge.  Second, they wanted it immediately and the truth is that, for the vast majority of computer users, the intricacies of bittorrent are just too complicated.

So, while I am sure plenty of people downloaded themselves some free Jackson this past week, it doesn’t look like they are going to bring down the whole system.

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