CD copying 'bigger problem than file-sharing'

Music copied on to recordable CDs is becoming a bigger threat to the bottom line of record stores and music labels than online file-sharing, the head of the US recording industry’s trade group says.

“Burned” CDs accounted for 29% of all recorded music obtained by fans in 2004, compared with 16% attributed to downloads from online file-sharing networks, Mitch Bainwol, chief executive for the Recording Industry Association of America, said.

The data, compiled by the market research firm NPD Group, suggested that about half of all recordings obtained by music fans in 2004 were due to authorised CD sales and about 4% from paid music downloads.

“CD burning is a problem that is really undermining sales,” Bainwol said in an interview before speaking before about 750 members of the National Association of Recording Merchandisers in San Diego yesterday.

Copy protection technology “is an answer to the problem that clearly the marketplace is going to see more of”, he added.

Album sales in the North America are down about 7% this year compared with a year ago, according to Nielsen SoundScan.

Yet the recording industry has seen a lift from online music sales, which when factored in with album and sales of CD singles increased overall music sales through July to 21% over last year.

After experimenting with copy-protected CDs in Europe and Latin America in recent years, some record labels have begun releasing albums in North America with similar copy restrictions. The CDs typically allow users to burn no more than a handful of copies.