Music Piracy Among College Students

This study explores the predictors of music piracy. Do age, gender, class rank, and major, and certain self-reported usage and knowledge factors help explain college students' engagement in music piracy? Additionally, we seek to learn the impact of ethics, legal and social norms on illegal download intentions. A survey was constructed and completed by over two hundred college students. Data has been collected and analysis has been completed using multiple regression analysis and structured equation modeling (SEM). Findings from multiple regression analysis indicate that demographic factors are not good predictors of music piracy; however, the number of digital music files owned by an individual and the individual's own level of knowledge about music piracy are significant predictors of the number of illegally downloaded music files possessed by the individual. This study also found through SEM that legal and ethics factors do help explain intentions toward music piracy.