Napster blamed for falling CD sales

The music industry is blaming Napster for falling sales of CD singles.

Shipments of CD singles sank by 39% last year, according to data released by the Recording Industry Association of America.

Napster chief executive Hank Barry says the association is twisting the data to support the recording industry's claim that they have suffered "irreparable harm" at the hands of Napster users.

But RIAA president Hilary Rosen concludes: "Napster hurt record sales."

A federal court ruled this month that Napster helped users violate music copyright laws. Financial penalties and an injunction have placed its future in question.

Mr Barry said: "In order to argue we've done irreparable harm, it would be great if there were some irreparable harm to show. We haven't seen a credible survey yet that suggests Napster is hurting CD sales."

Last week, music executives shook off Napster's offer to settle a copyright infringement lawsuit, saying it didn't offer a viable business model and failed to address concerns over the security of online music.

Some experts trace the drop in the sale of singles to the record companies themselves.

Industry analysts say the drop in sales can be attributed to a number of factors, including economic factors and a weak year for music releases.

"To be honest, it wasn't a great music year," said Andreas Schmidt, chief of the e-commerce group at Bertelsmann. "There were some isolated events, but we didn't put that much good stuff out."