But competition is fierce. Scores of companies, including Sony, Apple and retail chain Fnac, have entered Europe's fledgling download market looking to get a cut of a promising new business.

Meanwhile, the world's largest record labels, including Universal Music and EMI, are determined to see industry-backed services flourish in Europe to woo back music fans from free file-sharing networks.

Sony and Apple currently operate music download services in Britain, Germany and France. While Sony has not released any figures, industry analysts suspect it is trailing Apple's iTunes in Europe.

Sony and Apple are keeping their launch plans a closely guarded secret. However, Sony said in July that the Nordic and Benelux regions, plus Austria and Switzerland, were markets it expected to enter in the future.

Analysts say it will take a few years before download services provide a significant sales boost for music companies. One major problem is the bewildering array of competing technologies.

Peter Durr, senior marketing and sales manager for Sony Europe, said it is crucial for Sony and its rivals to reach a consensus on making various compression and antipiracy technologies interoperable, thus giving the consumer more choice.

"We all have to sell music, not formats. That's what consumers want," Durr said.