Fleet Foxes singer Robin Pecknold has said he believes music has become “richer as an artform” as a result of file-sharing.

Pecknold told the BBC there was widespread evidence that bands were making “better music now than was being made pre-Napster”.

Illegal downloading has been a thorn in the music industry's side since the file-sharing platform emerged in 1999.

Although Napster has since been transformed into a paid-for service, there are still hundreds of other illegal alternatives.

Despite its unpopularity with record labels, Pecknold said believed Fleet Foxes' music had been influenced heavily as a result of file-sharing.

"That was how I discovered almost everything when I was a teenager - my dad brought home a modem," he said.

"That was how I was exposed to almost all of the music that I love to this day, and still that's the easiest way to find really obscure stuff.

"I've discovered so much music through that medium. That will be true of any artist my age, absolutely."

The singer also explicitly admitted downloading music from the internet – and said it would be “petty” if he complained about people sharing Fleet Foxes' tracks online.

"I mean, how much money does one person need? I think it's disgusting when people complain about that, personally,” he added.

Global music sales have plummeted by 50% over the last decade – a fall the music industry has attributed to file-sharing.

(by Jason Gregory)