07. Digital Music Timeline
April 2006
Research by TNS values the loss to the industry because of illegal filesharing at £1.1bn, but also shows that the BPI’s litigation campaign is working as the percentage of illegal filesharers declines.
First quarter figures underline massive progress in record industry's transition to digital.
February 2006
The BPI outline the UK record industry’s position on DRM.
January 2006
2005 figures released, showing that 26.4 million downloads were sold in 2005, sending legal downloads up by 357%.
Landmark court cases rule file sharers liable, with one Norfolk man ordered to make a £5000 ‘down payment’, while 51 others are urged to make settlements to avoid similarly costly court actions.
December 2005
The battle for Christmas number one to be fought on and offline as legal downloads have risen from 25% of the weekly singles market to 70% through 2005.
November 2005
The BPI announces 65 new cases against large-scale uploaders and reveals that more than 70 people have paid settlements of up to £6,500 to avoid court action.
October 2005
The BPI issues a rebuttal of the NCC’s assertion that the British record industry is criminalising consumers.
Third quarter figures for 2005 are released, revealing that digital sales have boosted the singles market by 50%, with digital sales regularly accounting for 60% of weekly singles sales.
September 2005
There are two more major court rulings in the music industry's battle against illegal peer-to-peer; with Kazaa ruled illegal and a criminal conviction is brought against the Taiwanese Kuro p2p service.
HMV and Virgin relaunch digital music services in the UK as legal download sales approach the 20 million mark, with 13 million downloads sold so far in 2005.
August 2005
The US entertainment industry wins a major victory against illegal p2p, as it wins its case against Grokster. The court result is seen as a major positive step towards the development of legal peer-to-peer filesharing.
The battle against illegal filesharing is set to go to court for the first time in the UK, as the BPI announces that it is to issue proceedings against five alleged uploaders. The BPI announces that it has settled 60 of the 88 cases it has launched so far.
July 2005
BPI announce that half year download sales have topped 10 million units, almost twice the amount over the whole of 2004.
June 2005
International childrens' charity Childnet, with support from the international recording industry, launch a major campaign to educate parents about the dangers of illegal filesharing which will include the distribution of tens of thousands of leaflets in libraries and public buildings in the UK.
April 2005
The first combined digital and physical singles chart launches in the UK. With independent repertoire performing better in the new top 40 after the BPI’s indies campaign, Tony Christie tops the first new chart with (Is This The Way To) Amarillo.
April 2005
The BPI announces a “third wave” of lawsuits against 33 UK uploaders, taking the total number of legal actions launched in the UK to 90. Having caught 1 filesharer twice, this number later falls to 88. Meanwhile, the largest round of litigation yet is announced by the IFPI, which takes the number of cases to 11,552 internationally.
March 2005
BPI announces settlements in the UK’s first filesharer cases, with twenty three of the individuals paying an average of £2,000 and two individuals paying £4,500. The BPI announces that it intends to commence legal action against a further 31 individuals.
February 2005
With concerns that independent music is underrepresented on the UK’s leading download services, the Official UK Charts’ Company announce a delay to the combined chart. The BPI ups its campaign make indie repertoire available on the download services.
January 2005
Single track download sales now average 250,000 a week, outselling weekly physical single sales for the first time. It is estimated that another 250,000 downloads are sold on top of that weekly in bundles.
December 2004
More than 5.7 million permanent single-track downloads were sold in the UK in 2004. Adding in digital EPs and albums (bundles), total download sales are estimated at around 9 million.
October 2004
BPI announces that has collected evidence of copyright infringement from 28 UK IP (internet protocol) addresses in the UK.
The High Court rules that the ISPs must identify the individuals behind the IP addresses and the BPI announces its intent to start legal action against 26 people (two file sharers represented four of the addresses) for illegally distributing music online.
September 2004
The first Official UK Download chart is broadcast on Radio 1. Westlife are number one with a live version of Flying Without Wings.
July 2004
US market leading digital music services iTunes and Napster launch in the UK. iTunes record 500,000 UK sales in the first week alone.
June 2004
The first test download chart appears in UK music trade magazine Music Week. The Pixies’ iTunes exclusive Bam Thwok occupies the top spot.
March 2004
BPI issues a final warning to UK filesharers, and begins an instant messaging campaign that takes the message straight to uploaders’ desktops. 45 million instant messages had been sent worldwide .
January 2004
With virtually zero legal download sales in 2003, MyCokeMusic launches in the UK – and digital music sales immediately rise to around 13,000 per week.
September/October 2003
In the US, the record companies trade association the RIAA announce first cases against individual uploaders in the US.
April 2003
The BPI supports Digital Download Day – Europe’s first legal download promotion – aimed at raising consumer awareness of legal download services. Christina Aguilera’s Beautiful is the most downloaded track.
February 2003
Thousands of information brochures on music copyright are sent to the IT managers of UK academic institutions and major companies.
