Google faces the music over failure to address piracy
Google has come under fire from the music industry for failing to tackle internet piracy following a £362m decline in global music sales last year.
The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) is leading the charge, accusing the search giant of leading a lacklustre efforts to combat the problem, despite losing out from its own Google Play platform.
Recorded music sales slumped 3.9 per cent in 2013 as consumers increasingly opt to stream content instead in favour of purchasing physical CDs.
Growth from the likes of Spotify and YouTube saw them surpass the $1bn mark but this was not sufficient to offset precipitous declines in physical media.
IFPI’s chief executive Frances Moore urged Google to do more to tackle the 100m notices it receives requesting removal of links to illegal music in its search results. Moore said: “we hope that Google will realise that it’s in its own interest to do more, but we’re yet to see that…Google could do so much more”
It is estimated that one in four internet users still pirate music, despite efforts to block websites which disseminate such content.
However, The Drum understands Google is in fact testing a new music streaming service for YouTube, which could rival Spotify.