As Tone Deaf recently reported, it seems the end for piracy in Australia could be nigh. The federal government have passed a bill giving power to rights holders to go after websites they see infringing on their content and have them banned by local ISPs.

If other countries around the world take similar steps, which many seem poised to do, it could see the dawn of a new age without piracy, or at the very least, one in which it is relegated to the deep web, out of the reach of your average internet user.

But what would that world look like? Well, Universal Music Group, the largest label in the world and a company who’ve lost significant sums from piracy-related issues, have crunched the numbers with the help of global consulting firm Bain & Company and UMG parent Vivendi SA.

As Digital Music News reports, in one scenario, Bain’s final report found that if piracy and free content ended tomorrow, recording sales would multiply 17 times within three years.

Basically, it would work something like this: during the first piracy-free year, consumers would be highly resistant to paying, since we’ve simply grown so accustomed to receiving music for free. This is particularly true of younger consumers, like millennials.

But Bain predict that as the ‘new world order’ begins to settle, resistance would gradually move towards greater payments in the form of premium streaming subscriptions, increased vinyl purchases, and even download and CD purchases.

“The first year is when everyone will be complaining, and refuse to buy,” one source told Digital Music News. “But then it’s like everything else, where you pay because you have to. Then, you start to see the recovery, then the big increase.”

Image via Digital Music News

But in order to see this world come to fruition, UMG and the other major labels would have to enact what they refer to as ‘Piracy D-Day’. Essentially, this is a future point when piracy is more seriously attacked and eventually eradicated.

In addition to cutbacks of free and ‘freemium’ content on services like Spotify, something we’re poised to see happen soon, this massive assault on piracy would include a mix of domain name removals, heavy deep-packet inspections, and content blocking by ISPs, as well as legal action against sites and individuals.

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The report also mentions heavier involvement from influential politicians, both in the US and Europe. “Politicians, just like the artists, have always been scared to speak against piracy because they feared the backlash,” Digital Music News‘ source continued.

“With current [cross-Atlantic] trade discussions, we’re seeing that change, and Hollywood is helping that. The music industry is nothing in size, they have no power in Washington, they’re not as smart and just care about their salaries.”

“But Hollywood is different: they have Obama coming to visit, and you wouldn’t see things like Kim Dotcom getting raided without them. They don’t want to lose their industry.” Neither does Vivendi, a company who are seriously critical of the ‘freemium’ model beloved by the likes of Spotify and YouTube.

“They see this piracy problem as solvable, and reversible,” another source told Digital Music News. “Then, you have the multiplier effect, maybe 17 times, maybe 25 times over.”

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