According to figures from Hitwise, the online intelligence company, visits to music download sites, such as Apple’s iTunes Music Store, saw a 50 per cent increase between December 24 and 25.
Hitwise also found that visits to download sites were 15 per cent higher than last Christmas. Even before the Christmas increase, the BPI, the UK record companies’ trade association, said download sales had topped 23m this year, five times the 4.7m sold in 2004.
Weekly downloads already exceed 650,000 and may pass the 1m mark for the first time this holiday season. The figures reflect the growing popularity of MP3 music players such as the iPod, which were among the most popular Christmas gift items this year.
A number of retailers, such as Amazon, have reported that MP3 players were their biggest-selling electronic items in the run-up to the holidays.
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