Sales of digital music soared to $945 million in revenue for the first half of 2006, eclipsing the sales figures for the same period in 2005 by 106 percent, a new study finds

IFPI, an organization representing of over 1400 record labels, said on Thursday that digital music sales now account for 11 per cent of the total recorded music market worldwide, up from 5.5 per cent in December 2005.

The explosion in digital music services, spurred by consumer demand and a widening array of delivery channels, has seen online and mobile music sales grow from $US134 million in the first half of 2004 to US$945 million in the first half of 2006, the group said in a statement.

The U.S led sales of digital music with 18 per cent of recorded music sales now being made through digital channels. Digital music sales in the US also increased, growing 84 percent by in the first six months of 2006.

The growth came at the expense of tradition music sales, however, with revenue for CD's and cassettes down 10 percent worldwide. The group attributes the decline to piracy and competition for consumer spending, however declined to comment further.

As a whole, total music sales fell by four percent to $13.7 billion in retail values.