Scottsdale, Ariz. — Sales of digital music downloads represented 10 percent of the total worldwide music market in 2007, up from 6 percent in 2006, and are on track to reach 40 percent of music sales by 2012, according to research firm In-Stat.
Sales of online digital music, including full-track downloads from mobile phones, reached $3.05 billion in 2007, up 48 percent from 2006. The total worldwide market for all music was estimated at $35.5 billion in 2007.
Fueling this growth is the expansion of broadband, demand for single-track downloads and a growing market for downloads to mobile phones. Full-track downloads to mobile devices worldwide will reach $4.2 billion by 2012, said In-Stat.
A key challenge to the digital music market continues to be piracy. In-Stat research found that most respondents who accessed online video, 72.3 percent in 2007, did not pay for it.
Another obstacle is incompatibility between certain services and devices due to different digital rights management technologies.
