Leading musicians had been divided over business secretary Lord Mandelson's proposals to temporarily suspend the connections of those who consistently flout the law.
Artists such as Lily Allen and James Blunt backed Mandelson's plans, however a breakaway lobby group, the Featured Artists Coalition, consisting of artists including Radiohead, Billy Bragg and Annie Lennox, said that while it believed people should always pay for music that they download, limited filesharing between music fans helps promote up and coming bands.
During a meeting of nearly 100 leading artists last night, the two sides voted to call on Mandelson to slow down the connections of persistent law breakers, as was suggested in the government's report, published in June.
The artists said: "Our meeting voted to support a three-strike sanction on those who persistently download illegal files, to consist of a warning letter, a stronger warning letter, and a final sanction of the restriction of the user's bandwith to a level which would render file-sharing of media files impractical while leaving basic email and web access functional."
Earlier yesterday, the industry's umbrella group UK Music, which represents musicians, managers, music labels and record companies, sent a letter to Mandelson.
It called for persistent offenders to be given written warnings, and as a last resort suspending the connections of flagrant offenders.
The letter said: "We support government proposals which would see internet service providers (ISPs) send notifications and apply technical measures to impede and discourage the use of unlicensed peer-to-peer networks and to encourage the use of legitimate services."
"We agree that a clear distinction should be made between how technical measures are applied to the casual infringer, compared to how they are applied to the persistent infringer, with temporary suspension of broadband account being applicable only as a last resort."
The industry's new unity could not have come at a more appropriate time with the government due to close its consultation on how to tackle online piracy within days.
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