With sales of MP3 players having increased over the festive period, the music world as we know appears to be changing as a result.

According to industry statistics there was a surge in music downloads in the weeks leading up to Christmas - almost double that of a year earlier.

With more of us now having access to a cheap broadband connection and easy-to-use software provided by the manufacturers of these players, music has become more easily accessible to a mass audience.

The recent surge in reality TV talent shows has helped to catapult sales of records by download to it's highest figure of the year, with an estimated 3 million tracks downloaded in the run up to the coveted Christmas Number One.

With a wide range of golden oldies now available to download, the charts leading up to Christmas soon became filled with festive hits from the past and present.

And with some bands offering exclusive tracks through download services, it's now become easier to find musical gems - with clicking through online stores replacing flicking through CDs and vinyl in record stores.

The Official Charts Company changed policies to recognise downloads as legitimate record sales, more of us are now choosing to buy our music using broadband.

The results of these changes, as well as the boom in social networking sites as a means of promotion, has meant many more bands are now being given the chance to have their sounds heard by a more mainstream audience.

And with more broadband deals now available to us, the music industry has predicted that sales by download will continue to grow throughout 2008.

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