Music piracy is rapidly changing in terms of the methods used and also the platforms that people are using to pirate content. Most of the music piracy today is being done through smartphones, as compared to in the past when desktops were the main avenues for piracy. However, the issue of music piracy is a multifaceted one, and there is more to this problem apart from simply changing screens.

A research carried out MusicWatch discovered that over 50 million Americans were actively participating in music piracy. One thing that stood out from those results is how pirating was being carried. Rather than using torrent sites like Pirate Bay, more people are now stream-ripping directly from YouTube. Other web-based piracy tools include MP3 download sites and also storage lockers. All of these different kinds of piracy are being carried out on smartphones rather than desktops as people continue spending more time on their better-connected and more powerful handsets.

The data from the latest music piracy research shows that smartphones are now responsible for about 30% of all music piracy. This shows that the future of pirating music is actually going to be largely in smartphones. Part of the reason for this shift is being promoted by the simple convenience that a user always has their smartphone with them, while a laptop or desktop is not available all the time. If you evaluate the problem further, you will find that music piracy is also rising alongside other types of piracy, such as live streaming. Both the devices and platforms are driving one another’s continued growth.

The other notable statistic in the research was that most of the stream-ripping, especially directed at YouTube, is now being done through mobile devices. It has even overtaken the same ripper piracy coming from desktops, growing by over 45% in the last year. The implications of this study is that more users are turning towards <a href="http://www.mmsend2.com/link.cfm?r=1989073618&amp;sid=96384054&amp;m=12853621&amp;u=ASCAPBulkM&amp;j=33656894&amp;s=http://www.ascap.com/email-tracking/track-externallink?fromMessage=dailybrief_05112016&amp;externallink=http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/05/09/turns-out-smartphones-are-giant-music-piracy-machines/&amp;itemName=dailybrief_05112016&amp;linkTitle=Turns-Out-Smartphones-are-Giant-Music-Pi&amp;themename=ascap-daily-brief&amp;linkcategory=not-selected&amp;utm_source=dailybrief_05112016&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=newsletter">mobile-driven piracy</a>. Actually, the research showed that in 2015 alone, there were more than 40 billion visitors to pirate sites. This shows that mobile-based music piracy is a very big problem.

In terms of accessibility, torrents were more complicated compared to ripping. This means more users can be able to rip music and videos from the various streaming sites. Furthermore, as mobile phones continue to offer the convenience of music streaming through legitimate services like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal, ripping has a ripe ground to flourish. When all is said and done, perhaps this is the best time to start thinking about developing a mobile-focused piracy app. However, as more MP3skull alternatives continue popping up, it is clear that consumers want access to cheaper music, which is something that record labels should consider looking into.