European online music sales to generate $4.7 bln in 2011

Online music sales will grow rapidly over the next 5 years, although traditional music sales will still make up almost two thirds of revenues in 2011, Forrester Research said. The company forecast a 30% decline in European sales of traditional music formats like CDs and DVDs, but music downloads on the web from shops like iTunes Music Store from Apple will fill the gap. Online sales are seen growing more than tenfold to 3.9 bln euros ($4.70 bln) in 2011 from 279 mln euros in 2006. The total music sales market will grow to nearly 11 bln euros by 2011, up from less than 9.5 bln euros now, as the new sales channels will boost demand.