ABSTRACT
This chapter aims to draw together relevant theory and recent research findings in order to provide a detailed, psychological overview of why people engage in music piracy, by first taking into account research into why people listen to music. It discusses the implications of how people access and select music to listen to, given the volume of options available. The chapter considers music piracy within a broader social psychological context, contextualising its outcomes, including those that are not commercial. It describes the shortcomings of other disciplines that have focused solely on the negative consequences of music piracy. The chapter identifies some of the far-reaching outcomes of widespread engagement in music piracy, including the impact on the live music sector, typically absent from any critical evaluation of music piracy, focusing solely on the recorded music sector.
