According to the international record label trade group IFPI, global digital sales of music jumped from US$400 million in 2004 to $1.1 billion in 2005, while the number of tracks leaped from 160 million to 470 million, but overall music sales were down 3%. Macworld UK said that the report shows 86% of global online music sales were individual tracks in 2005, with Apple's iTunes Music Store the leader.

The IFPI's report also said the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Germany, and France comprise the top five digital music markets, with sales split in half between such operations as the iTunes Music Store and cellular networks. Among the sale of all single tracks globally, digital downloads accounted for 75% last year, compared to 45% in 2004.

As for the sale of music on physical media, that dropped 6.7% in value and 8% when looking at the number of units shipped. CDs were off 6% and 3.4%, respectively, while DVD music videos declined 4.3% in value and remained flat in units.

Macworld UK quoted IFPI chairman and CEO John Kennedy as saying: "It is encouraging that the markets with the strongest digital sales are also generally the best performing markets overall. In Japan digital has already made up for the decline in physical sales, and other markets should go this way.

"Physical music sales declined again for a combination of reasons, including digital and physical piracy, competition from other entertainment products and the shift in consumer spending to online and mobile."