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International Entertainment News

Monday, April 03, 2006

XTN Data Survey Shows That UK Illegal Music Downloading Continues to Grow

XTN Data Survey Shows That UK Illegal Music Downloading Continues to Grow

LONDON, April 3/PRNewswire/ -- Illegal music downloading is continuing to grow according to research
consultancy XTN Data. In late March they surveyed 1,000 UK music fans and
found that 28% admitted to downloading music without paying. XTN Data
reported 25% were downloading illegally in September last year.

The rise comes after last year's court action by the UK music industry
saw two filesharers paying thousands in damages. However XTN Data found that
legal action was the least effective option in stopping filesharing with only
12% saying that legal action would tempt them to a legitimate alternative.
Music buyers said cheaper pricing and easier to use services were most likely
to draw them to mainstream commercial sites. Greig Harper, founder of XTN
Data commented, "Clunky software, difficulty in finding tracks and
over-zealous protection limiting where customers can play music they've
bought are continuing to fuel filesharing. The industry is ignoring simple
solutions which could see filesharers head to a legitimate service."

iTunes remained the most popular commercial download service with 44%
market share while quasi-legal site AllOfMP3.com took second place seeing 14%
of the market. Napster followed in third place. AllOfMP3.com uses loopholes
in Russian law to offer albums from a pound compared to iTunes eighty pence
per track. Greig Harper noted, "This is the first time we've monitored
AllOfMP3.com and we were surprised when it took second place. But it offers
cheap downloads, is easy to use and has no restrictions on where people can
play the tracks. This is what music fans are asking for so perhaps AllOfMP3's
popularity isn't that surprising." Early last year the international music
body IFPI tried but failed to take action against the Moscow based site.

The report also found that sales of the iPod held steady over the
Christmas period as digital music players overtook portable CD players.
Apple's iPod accounts for nearly half the digital music player market.

Notes to Editors:

XTN Data is a research consultancy looking at issues from a consumer
perspective. The survey was conducted in late March with 1,000 UK music
buyers. The full report is available on request.

Source: XTN Data

Contact: Greig Harper, Founder, XTN Data, +44-(0)-20-7043-5669, greigharper@xtndata.com, www.xtndata.com

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