After two years of falling sales, the music and video retail market is set for a boost as tech-savvy buyers embrace digital downloading, according to a report on Thursday by retail analysts.
Verdict Research said that while the legal digital downloading sector remains relatively modest at just 112 million pounds, the forecast is for spending to grow to nearly 500 million by 2011.
"Over the past year, digital downloading has really started to capture the imagination of customers.
The increasing availability of high-speed Internet access is encouraging more consumers to experiment, downloading songs to their MP3 players," Alastair Lockhart, senior retail analyst at Verdict Research, said.