Fewer Than 1 in 10 Teenagers Believe that Music Piracy is Morally Wrong
Reactions to the Findings
David Kinnaman, Vice President of The Barna Group and the director of the music piracy study, corrected one of the myths about teenagers and music piracy. “People wrongly assume that teens are just looking for an excuse to rationalize stealing music, to reduce their sense of guilt. But that misses the point: their entire outlook on life – not just about music – revolves around the ‘whatever works,’ postmodern philosophy. According to this philosophy of hyper-individualism, moral behavior is essentially a private, personal matter. Desire, emotion, and personal experience become the benchmarks for determining right and wrong. Authority, truth and even language are viewed as subjective creations of society.”
“That’s why a legal argument against music piracy rings hollow for most teens: they just don’t buy the idea that a company or even an artist can ‘own’ an experience – which is essentially what music represents to them – much less tell them what is right and wrong. A legal challenge to piracy may temporarily alter some teen behavior, but without changing the underlying philosophy with which teens operate, teens’ music theft will just morph into some new form.”
Kinnaman encouraged parents, pastors and youthworkers to play a more active role in helping teenagers understand the moral boundaries of music piracy, because, as he put it, “music piracy is just one stage for the new moral drama being played out. It is a symptom of a bigger problem, but a symptom that should be taken seriously. Online porn is very similar to music piracy in that technology is facilitating and accelerating access. Pornography, therefore, is another area in which the ‘whatever works’ moral philosophy of the up-and-coming generation will be tested severely – and their postmodern philosophy will undermine more than their music loyalties. It will torpedo healthy relationships, sexuality, marriages, and families. If parents and pastors are too busy or too distracted to address music piracy, will they also fail to teach teens how to deal with online pornography and other important moral challenges? Since attitudes drive behavior, to make a difference, whether the issue is online porn or music piracy, churches and families must firmly address teens’ moral attitudes. The best way of doing that is to help teens develop a biblical worldview – that is, a means of experiencing, interpreting, and responding to reality in light of biblical perspectives.”Research Methodology
The data for this study is based upon 1,449 online interviews conducted among a nationwide sample of teenagers (ages 13 to 18). The study included teenagers with computer and Internet access – online teens who were most likely to understand the new realities of music acquisition. The survey was conducted from February 20, 2004 through February 24, 2004. The sampling error for 1,400+ interviews is plus or minus three percentage points, at the 95% confidence level.
The survey was commissioned by the Gospel Music Association of Nashville, Tennessee. Data for this survey were collected by Harris Interactive, headquartered in Rochester, New York. Harris Interactive was responsible for the quality of the online data garnered for this project, while The Barna Group was responsible for survey design and data analysis. Harris Interactive is a worldwide market research and consulting firm best known for the HarrisPoll (®) and for pioneering the Internet method to conduct scientifically accurate market research.
The Barna Group, Ltd., and its research division (The Barna Research Group), is an independent cultural analysis and strategic consulting firm located in Ventura, California. Since 1984, it has been studying cultural trends related to values, beliefs, attitudes and behaviors. If you would like to receive e-mailings related to each bi-weekly update on the latest research findings from The Barna Group, you may subscribe to this free service at the Barna web site (www.barna.org).Definitions
“Born again Christians” were defined in these surveys as people who said they have made a personal commitment to Jesus Christ that is still important in their life today and who also indicated they believe that when they die they will go to Heaven because they have confessed their sins and had accepted Jesus Christ as their savior. Respondents were not asked to describe themselves as “born again.”