Digitized biz cranks out coin: after long siege by pirates, labels rebound with online sales.(Midem)

Four years after taking a bullet from illegal file-sharing networks, the music industry is now profiting in territory where pirates once ruled. By offering high-quality downloads on sites like iTunes for around $1 per song, the biz is taking advantage of the growing popularity of legal downloads, and their profits have risen accordingly.

A 2004 Citigroup survey claims consumption of music by digital methods will account for 25% of the total music market by 2008. EMI Music chairman/CEO Alain Levy recently echoed this forecast, although he didn't expect his company to hit that number until 2009.

Levy illustrates the impact of download revenues on overall sales with the "bigger …