Music Piracy Neutralization and the Youth of the 2010's

Abstract

In this qualitative research, music piracy among the youth was studied by applying Sykes’ and Matza’s neutralization theory. The key objective of the study was to find out how youths view music piracy, and how they give accounts for it using techniques of neutralization. According to the conducted semi-structured interviews, youths do acknowledge the ethical and economic problems of music piracy. However, piracy is still exercised, and in order to justify this, multiple neutralization techniques are used. The most characteristic of the employed techniques was “claim of normalcy”, with “denial of victim” and “justification by comparison” also appearing frequently. In order to prevent piracy, these techniques need to be countered. The industry needs to effectively voice that “common” does not equal “right”. Recognized artists with reasonable “victim status” should relay the message.