Los Angeles, Dec 29 (IANS): Band members of British pop band One Direction along with singers Adele and Beyonce Knowles have reportedly had their emails hacked by the same people who targeted Sony's film studios.

Their private conversations have reportedly been stolen by the hackers.

Details of the stars' contracts and demands are believed to be among the information stolen by the hackers - who have been traced to Pyongyang, North Korea by the FBI - and it could cause "embarrassment" to the singers.

"The potential embarrassment and turmoil would be as devastating as that which has crippled Sony's movie-making arm and effectively killed the general release of 'The Interview'," media analyst Mike Raia told dailystar.co.uk Sunday.

There is also a worry about the early release of music from some of the biggest artists at Sony Music including David Bowie, 67, Rita Ora, 24 and Beyoncé, 33.

"Music files intended for release at a later date could be released on the net where fans would download them for free.

"We're talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in lost revenue. It could end up as a financial disaster so enormous that the company, at least in its present form, might not even survive," Raia added.

Meanwhile, a senior executive at Sony Music claimed that bosses at the company are "in complete panic" over the hacking.

The executive said: "We don't even know the extent of exactly what they have. We know it's a lot. There are skeletons in everyone's cupboard, only nobody ever expects a bunch of robbers to smash down the door and steal everything inside."