Record industry cutting off nose to spite face

New research has confirmed what many already suspected - music download services such as Napster and KaZaA are a major factor in driving CD sales.

Many music fans use services such as KaZaA, and previously the now defunct Napster, in a 'try before you buy' capacity - finding out what new music they like before going out and buying a CD.

Critics of the Recording Industry Association of America and its hard line of file sharing have long suggested this to be the case and now research from Nielsen/NetRatings supports the claim.

The findings revealed that of those using file-sharing services to download music, the majority (71 per cent) regularly buy music either online or on the high street.

Many music lovers also tend to only download tracks they already own on another format such as CD - for transfer onto portable MP3 players, or to listen to at their work PC. While the practice is roundly condemned by the RIAA it would appear CD sales and download services are not as mutually exclusive as the record industry would have us believe.

One regular user of KaZaA who asked to remain anonymous said: "I very rarely download something which I don't either already own or subsequently go out and buy."

"A few times I've downloaded something which I didn't like - so I didn't buy it - but I think that's fair. I don’t listen to the radio, but it's no different to hearing a track on the radio and deciding you want to go out and buy the album," he added.

Perhaps the real truth is something the RIAA is unprepared to face up to. Many critics have suggested the homogenising of the music industry is the real reason for the CD slump of recent years.

Endless streams of indistinguishable boy bands, churning out cover versions, and the proliferation of the Pop Idol format, has seen the music industry stagnate in recent years.