The IFPI estimates that almost 20 billion songs were illegally downloaded in 2005. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/piracy-report2006.pdf

A New York-based market research firm, The NPD Group, reported that 6.9 million households illegally downloaded at least one music file from a P2P service in April, up from 6.2 million in April 2005. there were 63 million legal downloads, according to Soundscan, versus 315 million illegal downloads, according to NPD.

One in three music discs sold (2005) worldwide is an illegal copy, creating a US$4.5 billion music pirate market that destroys jobs, kills investment and funds organized crime. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/piracy-report2006.pdf

The overwhelming majority of reputable third party research shows that illegal file-sharing has been a key factor in the recording industry’s 22% worldwide sales declines between 1999 and 2004 (Source: IFPI), and the halving in size of the British singles market over 1999-2004.

NPD Digital Music Study, U.S, December 2005

Recent NPD research in the US states that: “among internet users aged 13+, the study suggests that a quarter (26%) of the decline in CD units in 2005 was replaced by music consumption via illegal file-sharing. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/piracy-report2006.pdf

IFPI/Jupiter Research, U.S, November 2005

Research conducted by IFPI/Jupiter revealed that: “among European Internet users, they found that more than one third (35%) of illegal file sharers are buying fewer CDs as a result of their downloading. http://www.ifpi.org/site-content/library/piracy-report2006.pdf

The National Bureau of Economic Research, US, October 2004

The most recent study released by The National Bureau of Economic Research in the US (by the Wharton school University of Pennsylvania) states that: “downloading [from unauthorized sources reduced music expenditure by about 10% but possibly much more”. http://www.nber.org/papers/w10874

University of Pennsylvania – US, September 2004

A study of music downloading and purchasing habits of US students found that the music industry was losing the equivalent of one fifth of a sale for each album downloaded from the internet. The survey states that “our conservative estimates indicate that downloading reduced recent purchases by individuals in the sample by about 10% during 2003”. http://papers.nber.org/papers/w10874.pdf

Forrester Research – Europe, Aug 2004

'Europeans Love Online Music - As Long As It's Free'. More than one in three (36%) music downloaders say they buy fewer CDs because they can download music for free, according to Forrester research. Only 10% say they are buying more. The implications on sales is clear, negative outweighs the positive by a ratio of more than three to one. www.forrester.com

CBO report - August 2004

Because P2P networks enable unauthorized file-sharing, they are currently a significant source of copyright-infringement concerns. The value of music sales in the United States fell approximately 4 percent in 2001, 8 percent in 2002, and 6 percent in 2003. The persistence and magnitude of those revenue declines are exceptional in recent history and are regularly attributed to unauthorized file-sharing across P2P systems. (http://www.cbo.gov/showdoc.cfm?index=5738&sequence=0&from=0)

Source: Recording Industry Association of America.

Pollara – Canada, July 2004

28% of consumers who spent less on music in the previous 12 months said downloading, file-sharing and CD burning were the main reasons they were buying less. 52% of music consumers surveyed who did not download had purchased music in the past month, against only 35% of active file sharers.www.cria.ca / www.pollara.ca

University of Texas – US, July 2004

Prof. Stan Liebowitz conservatively estimates that file sharing reduced US album sales between 2000 and 2003 by as much as 30%, and “given our current state of knowledge, file-sharing hurts copyright owners (and is) responsible for most, if not all, of the recent decline in sales.” http://ssrn.com/abstract=583484

TNS Research – UK, March 2004

Study carried out by TNS on behalf of the BPI and BVA (British Videogram Association). Over 2003, music downloaders’ spend on singles and albums declined by 59% and 32% respectively and their overall spending on music declined by one third – among heavy downloaders this figure increased to almost half. Young people also download more and buy less. www.tns-i.com

Informa – US, September 2003

Informa predicted in October 2003 that the loss from networks such as Grokster and Kazaa will nearly double to $4.7bn (£2.8bn) in 2008 (estimated at $2.4bn in 2003) www.informamedia.com

Forrester Research – US, September 2003

Forrester's "From Discs to Downloads" survey found about 20 percent of all Americans download music from the Internet. Half of the downloaders said they were buying fewer CDs. www.forrester.com

House Judiciary Committee - June 19, 2003

According to the House Judiciary committee's study on Internet file sharing, each month, on average, over 2.3 billion digital-media files are transferred among users of peer-to-peer systems. The most popular peer-to-peer file trading software programs have been downloaded by computer users over 200,000,000 times. At any one time there are over 3 million users simultaneously using just one peer-to-peer file sharing service. (108th CONGRESS, 1st Session, H. R. 2517 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, June 19, 2003,)

Edison Media Research – US, May 2003

The heaviest US downloaders have the largest negative influence on sales. Among those who had downloaded more than 100 files, (roughly 16% of respondents), CD purchases fell by 61% in one year. www.edisonresearch.com

Enders Analysis – Europe, March 2003

Enders’ report, 'Piracy - Will it kill the music industry?' concluded that "digital piracy cost about 35-40% of the reduction in the size of the global music market last year". www.endersanalysis.com

Forrester Research – Europe, January 2003

The 'WholeView Technographics’ report concluded that 40% of frequent downloaders buy less music than before they began downloading. This damage is not compensated for by the 2% of people who say that they bought through download sampling. www.forrester.com