Looks like legal downloads took a 50% increase in downloads over the Christmas weekend according to Hitwise. With an increase of 15% in holiday downloads from last year, Apple and other services such as Napster, enjoyed some ho ho jolliness as well. With the iPod as the number one item on Christmas lists around the world, proof was in the downloads that many parents listened to their children’s requests.

Podcasters are also reporting a large influx of downloads since December 24th as well and some are suffering server issues due to the increase in traffic. The big guy may have the backing of heavy weights such as AOL Radio; however, the smaller Joe hosting from his limited server may be paying some extra bandwidth charges come this New Years Eve.

This news also will not escape the RIAA and the clients it represents. It’s sure to put more pressure on Apple to change its pricing scheme as Hollywood probably feels it lost a lot of extra pennies on all those Brittney downloads.

[tags]increase,ipod,itunes,itms,music store,sales[/tags]