So it’s inevitable that with success comes scrutiny as commentators attempt to analyse and figure out exactly how Spotify is able to stream such a huge range of music and still afford to operate. It was no surprise really when it was reported in August that major labels owned a combined 18% share in the company.

In Spotify’s native Sweden, the newspaper Expressen claimed that Lady Gaga only earned €113 from one million streams of her ‘Poker Face’ single on Spotify. That has since been refuted by the company who said that figure only refers to a fraction of what Gaga would have received from Sweden’s performing rights society in that country for one period before they actually launched. “Specific payments are of course confidential, but this is certainly wide of the mark,” said the statement.

Staying in the land of Swedes, it seems that the population is serving as a case study for the music industry in general. A report from the record labels association IFPI Sweden says that music sales are on the rise again in Sweden with revenues up 18% in the first nine months of this year after seven consecutive years of decline. Spotify and the tightening of anti-piracy laws are being hailed as the main reasons for this sudden rise.

Which may be good news for proponents of the three strikes rule here in Ireland and the Digital Economy Bill in the UK though they have been dealt a blow thanks to the European Parliament. Eircom’s agreed plan with IRMA to ban internet users found to be downloading copyright-infringing content may have some opposition in the form of a newly approved telecoms package which gives greater protection to consumers.

Eircom and IRMA’s private “three strikes” deal to disconnect users does not currently guarantee a fair and impartial judicial review before a user’s connection is revoked. This would conflict with the “rights and freedoms which have become part of Europe’s values since the French Revolution,” according to Vivane Reding, the European Commissioner for Information Society and Media.

In the U.S where lobby groups can bend the ear of politicians, the RIAA has publicly announced that they will no longer sue internet users who file share and are instead attempting to work with ISPs to implement the three strikes policy. While it was suggested on March 25th that American ISPs Comcast and AT&T were officially entering a “trial” phase for this strategy, the very next day an official statement from Comcast categorically stated “We have no plans to test a so-called ‘three-strikes-and-you’re-out’ policy,” leaving the surety of such plans in doubt.

At home, other ISPs under the representation of The Internet Service Providers Association of Ireland (ISPAI) have called the threat of legal action “spurious” before adding such actions could “impact on user privacy, damage the development of new internet services and hurt Ireland’s standing as an e-commerce hub”. A Blackout Ireland site in opposition of the three strikes rule is asking supporters to black out their internet avatars to raise awareness, to voice their disapproval with Communications Minister Eamon Ryan, their local TDs and their ISPs.

For years we’ve heard stories of court cases in the U.S. where the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) attempted to sue copyright infringers for damages only to find out those people had died or ended up being seven and twelve year old girls so why does the music industry still tread down the path of punishment? Why doesn’t it foster a pragmatic approach to the digital music problem? Imagine if Napster had been welcomed rather than attacked? There are alternatives suggested which need to be looked at. Examples include a plan to make file-sharing legal but charge for the volume of data transferred. Another involves the user paying for an add-on subscription to their broadband to download music with the revenue dished out amongst the copyright holders i.e. – the record companies. Legal services like Spotify which allows access to an unlimited streaming music library with occasional adverts between songs are pointing the way forward also.

The industry needs to recognise that people will always want to share music, whether it is by cassette tape or an MP3. That proponent means this cat and mouse filesharing game will continue unless an agreeable solution for both the industry and the customer is reached.