The BPI’s Geoff Taylor has questioned Google's music strategy, saying that the search engine's music policy - including the launch of its legal platform Google Play - "doesn't make sense" if the firm continues to allow copyright-infringing URLs to appear prominently via its search engine.

The chief executive said: "We don't think it makes any sense for them to be doing something which does support artists and then, on the other hand, undermine artists by referring consumers to illegal sites."