Legal music downloads have tripled in the past year said the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), which represents 1,450 record companies in 75 countries, reports the Guardian. There were more legal downloads in the U.S., the U.K., Germany and France in the first half of 2005 than in all of 2004. Some 180 million tracks were downloaded in those countries between January and June this year, compared with 57 million for the same period last year.

Some 300 legal digital music websites are being operated now, three times as many as a year ago. Among them, Apple's iTunes alone offers 1.5 million tracks, and Napster offers 1.2 million. Digital music services have registered 2.2 million subscribers around the world, up from 1.5 million in January, according to IFPI.

Britain recorded the strongest growth, with a tenfold increase in legal downloads (10 million) in the last six months. In the U.S., legal downloads are estimated to have nearly tripled, reaching 159 million.

The IFPI said the most cited reason for the growth of legitimate downloads is the threat of lawsuits, reports MacNewsWorld. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) and counterparts abroad have filed thousands of lawsuits against accused file swappers.

A survey of digital music usage by research group GfK published in February said that 40 percent of those downloading music were using legal sources, while 51 percent were using unauthorized file-sharing services, MarketWatch writes.