IFPI slams 'pirates buy more music' study

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) has criticised a recent study that suggests those who indulge in illegal file-sharing buy more music.

The original study conducted by Demos is flawed, said the IFPI, because it "does not prove that illegal downloading promotes legitimate sales".

"Many illegal downloaders are music fans who buy more music than the average consumer," the IFPI said in a statement.

"The net effect of file-sharing on music purchasing is overwhelmingly negative as evidenced by numerous third-party studies around the world," it continued.

But despite the IFPI's claims that "effect of illegal file-sharing in the UK and elsewhere has been to reduce legitimate sales", figures recently released by the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) suggest that the sale of singles in the UK has been growing steadily in the past few years.

In 2004, 32.2 million singles were bought in the UK, with digital sales making up around 15 per cent of this total.

In 2007, 86.5 million singles were bought with nearly 78 million of these bought in digital format.

And to date, 2009 has seen 117.6 million single sales, 116 million of which were digital. This figure already beats the 2008 total, with the key Christmas period still to come.


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