Downloads are tomorrow's world: CD sales are still strong despite excitement over the growth of digital media and online sales.(Editorial)

While the industry at large has been becoming increasingly excited at progress in the digital arena over the past months, the retail community has been observing developments with a dose of cynicism.

Physical sales remain overwhelmingly dominant, despite the talk of income from downloads, realtones, streams, subscriptions and other potential new revenue streams. Indeed, for every pound spent on CDs and other formats, little more than a couple of pence has been splashed out on digital-delivered music.

But the first signs of a significant step towards a genuine digital business came finally last week. A total of 450,000 downloads in a week is impressive.

The impact of the iTunes Music Store service sends out a clear message: if you tell consumers where they can buy downloads easily and conveniently, they will step up in their thousands. It indicates that there is a market waiting to be serviced.

It also suggests that it is no good just opening up shop, unless you advertise its existence. There will be plenty of existing download services that will be taking note of this important lesson.

That the first official UK download data is published in the very same week is more than a coincidence. The arrival of a store that can deliver almost half a million units ...