Spotify 'helps curb music piracy'

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Spotify, the music streaming service, has helped curb the illegal downloading of music, according to a new survey.

Nearly two thirds of those participating in the research, who admitted to illegally downloading music, said using Spotify had encouraged them to reduce the amount they used pirate sites or kick the habit altogether.

The survey, carried out on behalf of price comparison website,moneysupermarket.com, found that 12 per cent (one in eight) of the 2,310 British adults polled, have downloaded music from illegal sites in the past six months.

The practice was worse among men, with 16 per cent of men having illegally downloaded music versus the nine per cent of women of engaged in the activity.

The younger participants were also greater offenders, with 30 per cent of those under the age of 20 admitting to illegal downloading.

“Downloading music used to be mainly associated with illegal sites such as the old Napster, but now over a quarter (27 per cent) of people say they go to a digital source as first port of call; usually iTunes or Amazon,” said James Parker, broadband manager at moneysupermarket.com.

“With Spotify joining the ranks of legal music sites, illegal downloading seems set to become much less popular. With the new Spotify iPhone application and the new ‘Monkey’ tariff from Orange, which allows users to stream music from the orange site as part of the tariff, it will be interesting to see how these new mobile music services take-off. Streaming music for free or for a reasonable fee whilst on the move could spell the end for illegal downloading.”

He also said the number of people searching online for unlimited broadband packages was on the rise – which could be an indicator that downloading and streaming music are becoming a bigger part of online behaviour.

Since the publication of the Digital Britain report in June 2009, the government has been very vocal about how it plans to tackle online piracy. Lord Mandelson, the Business Secretary, has outlined a two stage plan.

In ‘stage one’, illegal filesharers will first receive a warning letter. Then there will be an indefinite number of subsequent warnings, which will state that legal action will be taken if the account holder continues to download illegally.

Legal action will then be taken by the rights holder against the worst offenders. Communications regulator Ofcom will set up a body to hear appeals. The regulator will report quarterly to the Secretary of State, with a goal to reduce piracy by 70pc.

If the ‘stage one’ process is unsuccessful, then the internet disconnection process, or ‘stage two’, will begin. This will begin with further warning letters threatening internet suspension and further infringement will lead to the offender being included on a “serious infringer list”.

Speaking at the C&binet media conference last week, Lord Mandelson admitted that this was a “three strikes” policy, although it is likely to be much slower that the “three strikes” law recently imposed in France.

“Technical measures will be a last resort and I have no expectation of mass suspensions resulting,” he explained publicly.

Lord Mandelson said that disconnection could come within a minimum 15 months of the Digital Economy Bill receiving Royal Assent in April, which would mean that current offenders will not be punished until the end of 2011.

Consumers wary of supermarket banks

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Government plans to break up Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group and create three new High Street banking chains have yet to stand the test of public opinion.

Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling has made it clear that the owners of the new banks must be relative newcomers to UK financial services sector and Tesco is tipped as a potential bidder.

However, recent research from Moneysupermaket.com indicates that large numbers of Britons are happier dealing with established names in banking and wary of major retail brands moving fully into the UK banking sector.

Forty-one per cent of those interviewed thought that large supermarkets were growing too big and only 4% said they would trust a supermarket brand more than a bank to look after their finances.

While 24% were happy to take out a credit card with a supermarket brand, only 5% would take out a mortgage and a mere 10% believed a supermarket would provide better service than a bank.

Eleven per cent felt that “supermarket brands are taking over our lives and should stick to more traditional products”.

A further 30% felt supermarket “have already gone too far and should stop expanding”.

Moneysupermarket’s head of banking Kevin Mountford, comments: “Many people are naturally cynical about the expansion of large brands into new product areas, feeling that certain companies are getting a bit too big for their boots in taking on so many different industries all at once.”

He adds: “The trend of supermarket brands entering into the banking sector is not likely to slow down soon, however it is quite clear they haven’t yet won over the British public, and until they do, they will be consigned to a relatively small market share.”

The research was carried out by Opinium on behalf of Moneysupermarket.com and involved an online poll of 2012 adults.

Banks preferred to Supermarket banks

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Surprisingly, traditional banking brands still hold a far greater sway with the British public's finances than supermarkets, according to moneysupermarket.com.

Following the recent moves of large UK retail brands into financial services, moneysupermarket.com conducted a study of consumer attitudes towards the increasing trend of major retail and supermarket brands moving into banking.

The research found that more than one in ten (11%) feels that ‘supermarket brands are taking over our lives and should stick to more traditional products', and a further 30% feel these brands ‘have already gone too far and should stop expanding'. However more than a third (37%) are quite happy with the growth and expansion of major supermarket brands, with one in five saying they can get a cheaper deal for a range of products with a supermarket and 17% happy to be able to get everything from one place.

The study found that, despite a tough period for the reputation of the banking industry, just 4% of UK adults would trust a supermarket brand more than a bank to look after their finances, compared to 27% who say they would trust a traditional banking brand more than a supermarket. A further one in five say they would not trust a supermarket brand at all to look after their finances. 14% simply don't trust any big company with their finances.

The research has uncovered the area in which ‘supermarket banks' are perceived as being better than traditional banking brands - providing good value products (e.g. cheaper Insurance premiums, higher savings rates and lower mortgage rates). One in five of those surveyed felt a ‘supermarket bank' would offer better deals on their products than traditional high street banks. This compares to just 9% who felt a bank would be more likely to offer the better value products. But good value rates are obviously not key as the vast majority said they are unlikely to go to a supermarket brand for any financial product.

Of all financial products, people would be more willing to take out a credit card from a supermarket brand (24%) closely followed by general insurance (23%). Only 15% would be willing to take on a savings account with a supermarket brand, 11% would take on a current account, 10% would buy Life insurance and just five% would take out a mortgage with a supermarket bank.