A new study by University of Toronto PHD candidate Laurina Zhang shows that removing DRM actually results in an increase of music sales overall in certain cases. The paper, which can be found here, studies how the music industry’s intellectual property strategy (specifically DRM) impacts the distribution of music.
The paper takes a sample of 5,884 albums (from 634 artists) and observes the difference in their sales before and after they are stripped of their DRM. The findings of the study show that there was an average increase in album sales of about 10%.
The study also shows (rather unsurprisingly) that removing DRM had the biggest impact on albums which were already on the lower end of the spectrum in terms of sales. Here there was an average of about 30% increase in music sales. Zhang argues that removing the DRM allowed consumers to discover and share their new music much easier; hence the increase in sales.
The above is just a short summary of the paper. The paper is pretty interesting, and if you have the time, definitely worth the read.
Source:
Paper:
http://inside.rotman.utoronto.ca/laurinazhang/files/2013/11/laurina_zhang_jmp_nov4.pdf
