Australians copying 'more music'

Aria says 3.6 million Australians have illegally "burnt" CDs

More than 11% of music in Australia is obtained through illegal means, the country's music industry has said.

The Australian Record Industry Association (Aria) said a survey found that 3.6 million of Australia's 20 million people had illegally "burned", or copied, a music CD in the past six months.

And it also found that 3.4 million Australians had also downloaded tracks illegally using file-sharing software.

"Ultimately, the consumer is the loser," said Stephen Peach, chief executive of the association, in a statement.

"File-sharing and CD burning contributes to the slow but steady weakening of the local and international music industry," he said.

Music sales down

The survey said that 80% of its respondents reported that if they received a burnt copy of a CD they would not buy a legitimate copy of it.

Fifty percent of people who had downloaded songs from the internet would not buy a legitimate copy, said the survey.

Aria has already helped the police in an investigation that led to the closure of a music-sharing website and the arrest of three students running it.

Music sales in Australia in 2002 dropped 8.9% in 2002 to A$573 million (£231m). CD burning and file-sharing was to blame for some of the downfall, Aria said.

A report published by the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) shows that the illegal music market is now worth $4.6bn (£2.8bn) globally, the equivalent of one billion CDs.

It believes two out of every five CDs or cassettes sold in the world are made illegally.