Report: Music piracy isn’t on its way out just yet

Stream ripping accounted for 39.2% of all recorded piracy modes in 2021, up from 33.9% the previous year. — AFP Relaxnews

Music and piracy have a history that goes way back. While there has been a drop in illegal downloads of songs and albums in recent years, it’s possible that this trend is reversing. So what’s going on?

While the most optimistic believed that streaming services had succeeded in convincing consumers that it was in their best interest to pay for music, it seems that some are showing resistance. Muso found that music piracy had been steadily declining since 2017... before increasing slightly in 2021. It observed a 2.18% increase on the previous year.