Music downloads and movie tickets get Christmas Day boost online

Sites for downloading music and buying movie tickets rose dramatically in rankings among shopping sites on Christmas Day, compared with Christmas Eve, Hitwise USA Inc. reports

As soon as the gift wrapping came off of the iPods and mp3 players Christmas morning, the new owners put the machines to use downloading tunes. In the Shopping & Classifieds category, Apple Computer Inc.’s iTunes site rose from 85th place on Dec. 24 to 37th on Dec. 25, Hitwise says. Meanwhile, MusicMatch climbed from 79th place to 46th.

As Christmas Day wore on, prospective movie goers logged on to see what was showing or to buy tickets, boosting Fandango from 33rd place on Dec. 24 to 18th Dec. 25. At the same time, MovieTickets.com went from 59th to 28th, Hitwise says.