Leader: Still lots to learn from online music pirates

The number of legal digital music downloads has risen 1,000 per cent and the online music business is booming, according to a recent report from industry group IFPI. But don't get the bunting and the bubbly out just yet.

While no one can deny it's good for the industry to see music fans switching to legitimate sites instead of pirate ones, it seems a little cloying that music execs are proclaiming downloads 'A Good Thing'.

Not so long ago, they were telling us that online music was the equivalent of the sky falling in - a Wild West of untamed downloading. They wanted the pirates stamped on - which is fair - but they weren't much interested in exploring online as a distribution channel and they certainly didn't care about the music fans hooked on the idea of getting a new album without having to rip the cellophane off.

Now, with 'significant revenues' coming from online, the record labels are tearing each others' arms off to license their catalogues to the ever-increasing number of online song sellers - up from 50 in 2003 to 230 in 2004, says the IFPI.

And what of those sellers? Sure, there's a lot of them out there but how much do those 230 differ?

The IFPI report says around one million different songs are available online. One million songs can be found in iTunes' or Napster's catalogue - essentially, according to the IFPI, all of those 230 are offering a greater or lesser version of the same thing.

These dealers are going to have to differentiate themselves somehow - for now the two obvious options are brand and price.

The ultimate differentiator, however, will be musical selection. Compared with the pirates' catalogue, which doubtless makes iTunes et al look somewhat weedy, most of the legal sites have got a long way to go before they can cater to the world's music tastes in the same way the dodgy music dealers can.

Of course we're not praising the pirates. The illegality aside, the songs downloaded from illicit sites are often poor quality and users are just as likely to find themselves downloading some nasty malware instead of the Kaiser Chiefs latest.

But it is important to remember the legal online services owe quite a bit to the illegal services that went before. The pirates created online music and, simply put, they taught the legitimate services their trade.

Pirates understand there's a market for everything and content - not format - is key to music. The legal services shouldn't stop taking lessons just yet.