Digital music sales triple
The legal sale of copyright music triple to $1.1bn in 2005. Crucially, in some markets, including the UK and Germany, more listeners are downloading legal files than illicit ones according to market watcher Jupiter. IFPI said some 420m individual songs were downloaded via the internet legally in 2005 - more than 20 times the quantity downloaded in 2003 and enough to account to six per cent of record labels’ combined sales. Worldwide, there are now more than 335 legal download sites - up from 50 two years ago. Since those 420m songs net the record companies, approximately, 66 cents a track, that’s a revenue contribution of just $277.2m - a long way from the $1.1bn revenue gain from digital music, the labels claim.