In the final week of 2005, records were shattered for legitimate online downloading. In the seven days between Christmas and New Year's, nearly 20 million tracks from iTunes and other download retailers were purchased, Nielsen SoundScan reported. The surge in legal downloads can likely be attributed to new consumers who received MP3 players and gift cards for Christmas, Reuters reported.

Before the week ending Jan. 1, 2006, the record for the most downloads sold in seven days was just 9.5 million tracks. That record was set the previous week ending Dec. 25. The amount of downloads was almost three times the amount of digital tracks sold in the same seven-day span the previous year. For the year, digital-track sales reached 352 million, a 147% increase over 2004's total of 142.6 million.