Record companies blame web for CD sales-slump (again)

The record industry has once again hit out at online file swapping - blaming the practice for a sizeable fall in CD sales.

Since the earliest days of file-swapping uber-site Napster the record industry has blamed all downward sales trends on the proliferation of peer-to-peer networks. And despite last year's legal victory over the now-defunct service, the music industry, spearheaded by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), is holding firm on this line of argument - claiming the pretenders to Napster's crown are now causing similar damage to sales.

CD sales fell seven per cent for the first half of 2002 on 2001 levels - a drop the industry claims equates to around $284m in lost revenue.

The RIAA claims its own research shows the drop is clearly proportional to the increasing tendency of surfers to download music from the internet. However, critics of these claims suggest people downloading music are actually more likely to buy CDs, using the online services merely as an extension of the record shops' listening booths - hearing various tracks in order to make an informed decision on what to buy.