DVD sales in The Netherlands' are expected to hit record of Euros 495m in 2003, surpassing revenues from music CD sales for the first time.

The CD market will be worth Euros 340 million. The video-market, however, is collapsing, falling 59% in 2003 to 40 million Euro.

The figures are based on a survey by market-investigating-agency GFK on behalf of Warner Home Video in the Netherlands.

The boom in DVD-sales follows on from a huge growth in DVD-players sold in the Netherlands. In 2003 sales doubled to two million players. Three years ago there were only 200,000 players in Dutch households.

The prices of DVD discs have also dropped considerably: the average price in 1999 was Euros 29, this year, based on the results of the first six months, it was Euros 19,80 Euro.

Warner expects prices will drop even further.

Music DVD's are proving particularly popular in the Netherlands - with sales rising 89% to 85m. DVDs by Led Zeppelin, Queen, The Eagles and local singers Marco Borsato and Kane have proved particularly successful. The best results for movies on DVD came from The Lords of the Rings 2, Harry Potter 2 and The Matrix Reloaded.