Music Piracy Rises as High Streaming Prices and YouTube-Ripping Sites Tempt Users
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Music piracy is on the rise again, with visits to piracy sites up 13% last year and 17 billion total visits.
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High prices of streaming services like Spotify and Apple Music are pushing more people to illegal downloads.
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40% of tracked music piracy comes from "YouTube-to-MP3" sites that rip audio from YouTube videos.
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Google, which owns YouTube, directs users to these piracy sites when searching "YouTube to MP3".
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Napster's legacy of free music file sharing lives on through sites that rip YouTube audio over 20 years later.