With millions of Internet users downloading all manners of music, from Abba to Eminem, on free rogue services, observers warn that teenagers and twenty-somethings are growing accustomed to seeking pirated versions before venturing into record shops. "You have an entire generation of people thinking content should be available for free, and that's just not a sustainable long-term business model for the labels," said Hank Forsyth, media analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein.
The IFPI recently put a value of $4.2 billion on pirated music activities in 2001. In 2000, the industry was hit by the worst year on record when world sales of recorded music fell five percent to $37 billion.
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News
