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Sales displacement and streaming music: Evidence from YouTube

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  • Scott Hiller, R.

Abstract

In this paper I exploit the removal of Warner Music content from YouTube in January 2009, and its restoration in October 2009, as a plausible natural experiment to investigate the impact of online content availability on album sales. I find that this blackout on YouTube had both statistically and economically significant positive effects on Warner albums, which are quickly moderated as top-selling albums are dropped from the sample. Results also show that albums that have a very successful debut face more displacement from YouTube videos, while the effect on lower debuting albums may be moderated by a promotional effect.

Suggested Citation

  • Scott Hiller, R., 2016. "Sales displacement and streaming music: Evidence from YouTube," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 34(C), pages 16-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:iepoli:v:34:y:2016:i:c:p:16-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.infoecopol.2015.12.002
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    3. Christensen, Finn, 2022. "Streaming Stimulates the Live Concert Industry: Evidence from YouTube," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 85(C).
    4. Ramadan Aly-Tovar & Maya Bacache-Beauvallet & Marc Bourreau & Francois Moreau, 2020. "Why would artists favor free streaming?," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 44(2), pages 255-280, June.
    5. Marc Ivaldi & Ambre Nicolle & Frank Verboven & Jiekai Zhang, 2024. "Displacement and complementarity in the recorded music industry: evidence from France," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 48(1), pages 43-94, March.
    6. Wojciech Hardy, 2018. "Pre-release leaks as one-time incentives for switching to unauthorised sources of cultural content," IBS Working Papers 03/2018, Instytut Badan Strukturalnych.
    7. Lee, Jonathan F., 2018. "Purchase, pirate, publicize: Private-network music sharing and market album sales," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 42(C), pages 35-55.
    8. Aguiar, Luis & Waldfogel, Joel, 2018. "As streaming reaches flood stage, does it stimulate or depress music sales?," International Journal of Industrial Organization, Elsevier, vol. 57(C), pages 278-307.
    9. McKenzie, Jordi & Crosby, Paul & Cox, Joe & Collins, Alan, 2019. "Experimental evidence on demand for “on-demand” entertainment," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 98-113.
    10. T. Randolph Beard & George S. Ford & Gilad Sorek & Lawrence J. Spiwak, 2018. "Piracy, Imitation, and Optimal Copyright Policy," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 84(3), pages 815-830, January.
    11. E. Carroni & D. Paolini, 2019. "The business model of a streaming platform," Working Paper CRENoS 201902, Centre for North South Economic Research, University of Cagliari and Sassari, Sardinia.
    12. Nils Wlömert & Dominik Papies & Michel Clement & Martin Spann, 2024. "Frontiers: The Interplay of User-Generated Content, Content Industry Revenues, and Platform Regulation: Quasi-Experimental Evidence from YouTube," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 43(1), pages 1-12, January.
    13. Hiller R. Scott & Walter Jason M., 2017. "The Rise of Streaming Music and Implications for Music Production," Review of Network Economics, De Gruyter, vol. 16(4), pages 351-385, December.
    14. Carroni, Elias & Paolini, Dimitri, 2020. "Business models for streaming platforms: Content acquisition, advertising and users," Information Economics and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 52(C).
    15. Christian Peukert & Margaritha Windisch, 2023. "The Economics of Copyright in the Digital Age," CESifo Working Paper Series 10687, CESifo.
    16. Daniel Kaimann & Ilka Tanneberg & Joe Cox, 2021. "“I will survive”: Online streaming and the chart survival of music tracks," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 42(1), pages 3-20, January.
    17. Hidetaka Oshima & Shinichi Yamaguchi, 2023. "The impact of user-generated content authorization on demand in the game industry," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(11), pages 1-26, November.
    18. Jordi McKenzie & Paul Crosby & Liam J. A. Lenten, 2021. "It takes two, baby! Feature artist collaborations and streaming demand for music," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 45(3), pages 385-408, September.
    19. Wojciech Hardy, 2022. "Brace yourselves, pirates are coming! the effects of Game of Thrones leak on TV viewership," Journal of Cultural Economics, Springer;The Association for Cultural Economics International, vol. 46(1), pages 27-55, March.
    20. Wlömert, Nils & Papies, Dominik, 2019. "International heterogeneity in the associations of new business models and broadband Internet with music revenue and piracy," International Journal of Research in Marketing, Elsevier, vol. 36(3), pages 400-419.
    21. Shinichi Yamaguchi & Hirohide Sakaguchi & Kotaro Iyanaga & Hidetaka Oshima & Tatsuo Tanaka, 2023. "The impact of licensed and unlicensed free goods: an empirical analysis of music, video, and book industries in Japan," SN Business & Economics, Springer, vol. 3(3), pages 1-22, March.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Online content; Sales displacement; Copyright policy; YouTube;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • D12 - Microeconomics - - Household Behavior - - - Consumer Economics: Empirical Analysis
    • L82 - Industrial Organization - - Industry Studies: Services - - - Entertainment; Media
    • O33 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Innovation; Research and Development; Technological Change; Intellectual Property Rights - - - Technological Change: Choices and Consequences; Diffusion Processes

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