There’s a certain irony that in the week when we were invited to “Talk like a Pirate” and celebrate the traditional “pirate” on “International Talk Like A Pirate Day”, a report was released revealing that the UK leads the world in terms of music piracy!!

The statistics from monitoring service Musicmetric revealed that in the first half of 2012 UK users illegally shared over 40 million albums and singles. The research said there were more illegal downloads per person in Manchester than any other town or city in the country, followed by Nottingham and Southampton.

Musicmetric’s research confirmed that singer Ed Sheeran was the most pirated act in the UK for the first half of 2012, followed by Rizzle Kicks and Rihanna. The data indicated that Ed Sheeran’s 2011 album + (Plus) was illegally downloaded an average of 55,512 times every month.

The report suggested that the UK is a key player globally in terms of illegal music downloads. Great Britain was placed second in the world, behind the USA, in terms of pure volume of illegal music downloading, with Musicmetric logging 43,263,582 illegal downloads in the first six months of this year.

We need to ask the question, is this high level of music piracy purely due to easy access to free digital downloads and the fact that the internet is unpoliced? Twenty, thirty, forty years ago, would music consumers not have freely and regularly shoplifted vinyl records and cassette tapes in their favourite record shops, if they thought they could have got away with it? The truth is almost certainly many would have pilfered to their heart’s content!!

However is it not also the case that because music downloads are invisible and intangible, they have no real value in the minds of modern day music consumers? It seems that vinyl records ( and CDs to a lesser extent ), have a far greater perceived value because they are tangible, physical objects that command a high level of love and affection!! This is very much borne out by the increasing number of consumers under the age of 25 wishing to purchase framed vinyl records for themselves, for friends and family from MyFirstRecord.co.uk  The younger generation desire a physical manifestation of their music and as such have discovered a love for vinyl records!!

Celebrate the vinyl record and CD by ordering your favourite vinyl record or CD; single, album or album cover; framed and mounted as a picture disc souvenir. You can also personalise it with an inscribed / engraved plaque……

ORDER NOW…….. www.myfirstrecord.co.uk/

Framed vinyl records with a personalised plaque, make a unique present or original gift for a special celebration  ie a Wedding ( Wedding First Dance Song ), an Engagement Party ( Our Song ), a House Warming Party ( New Home ), a 21st, 30th, 40th, 50th, 60th or 70th Birthday, a Silver, Ruby or Golden Wedding Anniversary, Father’s or Mother’s Day or Valentine’s Day!!  THE PERFECT PERSONALISED PRESENT!! 

Other nostalgic products available from MyFirstRecord are your favourite childhood comics ( masthead & front cover ), TV cartoons and pop idol posters. If you would like any of these framed ( with a personalised , engraved plaque, if you wish ) as a lasting memento to your childhood ……… Please E-mail  info@MyFirstRecord.co.uk