Legitimate digital music sales grew strongly in 2008 but were still dwarfed by the scale of illegal downloads, despite industry efforts to adapt to the Internet and offer more choice to customers.
A report by the trade body IFPI showed legal digital global sales grew by an estimated 25 percent to $3.7 billion in trade value, to account for about 20 percent of the industry's global recorded music sales, up from 15 percent in 2007.
However, the rapid rate of growth has inevitably slowed—digital sales grew by more than 30 percent in 2007—and the scale of the piracy has eaten into traditional revenues, meaning the overall music market for 2008 is expected to be down about 7 percent. It fell by 8 percent in 2007.
The report showed about 95 percent of the music downloaded in 2008, or more than 40 billion files, was illegal and not paid for.
As part of its response, the music industry has launched a host of alternative ways to sell music, such as through subscription models on mobile phones and Internet service providers (ISPs), and on advertising-supported models.
It has also pushed ISPs to help curb mass copyright infringement on their networks and believes it has reached a “tipping point" in persuading governments that doing nothing is not an option.
“The recorded music industry is reinventing itself and its business models," IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive John Kennedy said in the report.
A report by the trade body IFPI showed legal digital global sales grew by an estimated 25 percent to $3.7 billion in trade value, to account for about 20 percent of the industry's global recorded music sales, up from 15 percent in 2007.
However, the rapid rate of growth has inevitably slowed—digital sales grew by more than 30 percent in 2007—and the scale of the piracy has eaten into traditional revenues, meaning the overall music market for 2008 is expected to be down about 7 percent. It fell by 8 percent in 2007.
The report showed about 95 percent of the music downloaded in 2008, or more than 40 billion files, was illegal and not paid for.
As part of its response, the music industry has launched a host of alternative ways to sell music, such as through subscription models on mobile phones and Internet service providers (ISPs), and on advertising-supported models.
It has also pushed ISPs to help curb mass copyright infringement on their networks and believes it has reached a “tipping point" in persuading governments that doing nothing is not an option.
“The recorded music industry is reinventing itself and its business models," IFPI Chairman and Chief Executive John Kennedy said in the report.
