London, Sept. 28 (Reuters): The compact disc has at least another five years as the most popular music format before online downloads chip away at its dominance, a new study said today.

Technology consultancy Jupiter Research said in its annual report that in 2009 European music fans will buy 836 million euros ($1 billion) worth of music in the form of digital downloads and subscriptions to Internet radio services.

At that level, digital music revenues will account for roughly 8 per cent of Europe?s estimated 10.2 billion euro music market. The study does not take into account the surprisingly successful market for mobile phone ring tones.

The piracy-battered music industry is desperate to see industry-backed download services become a hit with consumers to derail the popularity of free file-sharing networks such as Kazaa and eDonkey.