[anon4]

At best it's free promotion. The thing is, piracy right now is rampant, but it doesn't seem to have a measurable effect on profits. As in, they aren't dropping.

Edit: Here's a concrete example of "At best": http://anton.nordenfur.se/paulo-coelho-destroys-piracy-myths...

In 1999, when I was first published in Russia (with a print- run of 3,000), the country was suffering a severe paper shortage. By chance, I discovered a ‘pirate’ edition of The Alchemist and posted it on my web page. A year later, when the crisis was resolved, I sold 10,000 copies of the print edition. By 2002, I had sold a million copies in Russia, and I have now sold 12 million

[mike_hearn]

Eh? Music industry sales have dropped off a cliff starting around the year 2000. It's been a bloodbath, they're now at something like a third of what they once were:

http://static5.businessinsider.com/image/4d5ea3314bd7c8600a0...

Do you think people listen to a third of the music they listened to ten years ago? No way!