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.