Illegal file-sharing three times as popular as iTunes

Free songs more attractive to youngsters than paid-for?¢‚Ǩ¬¶

Illegal downloads are still beating legal online music in Europe, analysts have found.

A report from analyst house JupiterResearch discovered that consumers are three times more likely to get their digital music from illegal file-sharing networks than pay to download the tracks from online song shops such as iTunes and Napster, with 15 per cent of consumers using P2P sites and five per cent using the legitimate online shops.

The taste for illegal music is strongest amongst the young. Of those consumers between 15- and 24-years-old, 34 per cent are illegal file-sharers and, according to the report, have little concept of music as a paid commodity.

Mark Mulligan, analyst at JupiterResearch, told silicon.com that despite the growth in legal sales from services like iTunes, as well as legal actions against uploaders, illegal file-sharing is here to stay.

Full article: silicon.com