San Francisco | Tuesday
DESPITE the record industry’s legal battles with Napster and other online music distributors, the practice of selling music online will top $1,6-billion dollars by 2005, a consultancy said this week.
”There’s a growing population of music enthusiasts that are ready to embrace paid downloads, streaming on demand, and online radio,” said Susan Kevorkian, an analyst with the Framingham, Massachusetts-based IDC technology consultancy.
The world’s largest record companies have been waging a legal battle against online music sites.
Last month, Konrad Hilbers, the CEO of Napster, a pioneering music-file-swapping site, said record labels have been balking at allowing websites to license their catalogues.
Napster has been in a two-year legal battle with Sony, BMG and others over allegations the site lets users engage in wholesale copyright infringement.
A federal judge last month said the record companies could be found guilty of antitrust behaviour for failing to let online sites distribute their songs.
IDC’s Kevorkian said on Monday that if an online music site can’t access these catalogues ”it may as well close up shop.”
The US Justice Department and European Union regulators have asked for information on business practices from online music distribution sites MusicNet and Pressplay, potential Napster competitors backed by the major record companies. – Sapa-AFP