The high seas (C’s) of music piracy in information systems : cost, convenience and choice

Systems and technologies used for unauthorised file sharing have received little attention in the Information Systems literature. This paper attempts to fill this gap by presenting a critical, qualitative study on the motivations for using unauthorised file sharing systems. Based on 30 interviews with music consumers, musicians, and the music industry, this paper reports on the decision of music consumers to ‘pirate or purchase’. This paper highlights file sharing from multiple perspectives of users, musicians, and representatives from the music recording industry. Three main themes emerged on the cost, convenience and choice as motivators for unauthorised file sharing.