Music Pirates More Likely to Buy Music, Study Says

In a twist on conventional logic, a new study reported in the Guardian has found that piracy, so often blamed for the continual downturn in music sales, may actually be sustaining the industry.

The surprising report, from the BI Norwegian School of Management, was based on a study of approximately 2,000 online music listeners over the age of 15. Researchers discovered that the people who admitted to downloading free music (legally or illegaly) were actually 10 times more likely than their law-abiding peers to pay good money for downloadable music. For the sake of accuracy, all of those who claimed to have bought music were required to present proofs of purchase. According to the Guardian, these figures -- if accurate -- identify pirates as the largest segment of online music consumers.

We aren't mathematicians, but it would seem that these so-called "pirates" are the ones putting the most "booty" in the music industry's coffers. The gray area in this never-ending dispute just got a little broade