Ubiquitous popularity of Apple’s iPod has helped the number of legal on-line music track downloads increase tenfold during the past year.

A report from the International Federation of Phonographic Industry (IFPI) released yesterday revealed that in excess of 200 million songs were purchased during 2004 representing a substantial improvement to the 20 million attained during 2003.

The progress made welcomes the first occasion on which record companies have received any substantial income, thought to have amounted to several hundred million pounds.

Also pleasing was the reported crackdown in Internet music downloading piracy.

According to report, there are still 870 million infringing music files on the Internet although this figure was down from 900 million in January 2004, of which 760 million were found solely on P2P networks, a figure itself down from 800 million last January and one billion in April 2003.

“The biggest challenge for the digital music business has always been to make music easier to buy than to steal,” said John Kennedy, chairman and CEO of the IFPI. “At the start of 2005, as the legitimate digital music business moves into the mainstream of consumer life, that ambition is turning into reality.”

Mr Kennedy added: “The record industry’s priority now is to licence music - to as many services, for as many consumers, on as many formats and devices for use in as many places and countries as it can.

“I am confident that in 12 months’ time the digital music market will have grown very significantly around the world. A sector that now accounts for a very small percentage of the industry’s revenues is poised for take-off in the next few years.”