Online music sales grow 40%
2008-01-25 09:45
London - Global sales of music online rose by 40% in 2007, confirming the soaring popularity of legal internet-based music stores, said an industry report published on Thursday.
Online sales of music totalled an estimated $2.9bn last year, said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) in its annual report.
That compared with compared to $2.1bn in 2006, and $380m in 2004.
"A revolution is sweeping the music industry as record companies adapt to a new digital marketplace," John Kennedy, IFPI's chairperson and CEO wrote in the report.
Between 2003 and 2007, the number of legal online music stores has increased more than tenfold, from around 30 to more than 500.
And the number of legally available tracks has risen from around one million to more than six million.
Overall, digital music sales now account for around 15% of the global music industry, having started from zero in 2003.
The song that was most-downloaded last year was Canadian rocker Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend, IFPI said, followed by Utada Hikaru's Flavour of Life and Rihanna's Umbrella.
The IFPI, which has been leading a long-running campaign against illegally downloaded, or "pirated" music, also called on governments around the world to put together a "concrete programme of action" against online music piracy.
The organisation cited the example of the "Sarkozy agreement" in France, where internet service providers committed to disconnect users who persistently infringed on copyright.