Authorized Music Downloads Grew In 2007

NEW YORK — Consumers are downloading more than ever from authorized music-download sites, even if illegal file-sharing remains rampant, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry and Nielsen Soundscan.

IFPI, an international music-industry association, found that 1.7 billion music tracks were downloaded worldwide in 2007, up 53 percent from the previous year. That number includes tracks from full-album downloads but excludes full-track downloads over the cellular airwaves directly to MP3-playing cellphones.

In the United States, the number of single-track downloads rose 45 percent to 844.2 million, excluding tracks from full-album downloads but including full-track downloads to cellphones, Nielsen SoundScan reported.

Those numbers, nonetheless, pale in comparison to the number of songs downloaded via unauthorized file-sharing services, IFPI said. The ratio of illegal to legal downloads was 20:1 in 2007, the group contended.

All told, digital music sales accounted for 15 percent of worldwide music-industry revenues in 2007, IFPI said. In the United States, digital sales accounted for 30 percent of music-industry revenues. The numbers include downloads to a PC, over-the-air full-track downloads to a cellphone, and cellphone ringtone downloads, IFPI said.

Despite digital gains, the music industry's total revenues worldwide continued to slip in 2007, IFPI said. Total revenue numbers weren't available.

IFPI also found that by the end of 2007, more than 6 million songs were authorized for download worldwide, up from 4 million in 2006 and only 2 million songs at the end of 2005.