A third of those surveyed by Park & Associates said that they are now using a television to listen to music. MP3 players ranked equal to TVs, with one-third of households using these platforms for music, in a new report titled Digital Media Habits II.

"iPods are sexy, but not everybody has one," said John Barrett, Director of Research at Parks Associates. "TVs are ubiquitous and increasingly capable of delivering a range of content, especially with new features like digital music delivery and place-shifting services. This is just the tip of the iceberg for TV applications."

Also emerging as a hot new way to listen to music is via a Blu ray player with The PlayStation 3 appears to be the Blu-ray player of choice, as 87 percent of PS3 owners watch Blu-ray movies on their console, says a report from the Entertainment Merchants Association.

The "2008 Annual Report on the Home Entertainment Industry" says the PS3 will remain the driving force behind Blu-ray sales until 2009.

Microsoft, which did not integrate a HD DVD drive into the Xbox 360 sold only 316,000 HD DVD add-ons for the console in 2007, the reports says.

PS3 sales, in large part because of its Blu-ray compatibility, were close to 3 million by the end of 2007.

And that's just one of the reasons the PS3 should be the Blu-ray player you install in your customers' home theater.

The report also says Blu-ray will outsell standard DVDs in 2012, generating more than $9.5 billion in sales.

A recent survey found that nearly eight in ten consumers don't put much stock in the opinions of professional music reviews, preferring instead to seek recommendations from online music stores or social networking applications (40%) or friends, family and other shoppers (41%).

Despite the fact that a larger number of consumers are going online to find new music, the Trust Index survey from market research firm Avail Intelligence found that 51% still prefer to buy music on CD, compared with 25% who favor digital downloads.

"What this research shows is that today's consumer is more informed than ever and that personalization will be critical for e-tailers looking to stand out," said Avail Intelligence CEO Dr. Rolf Elmer.

"Retailers need a robust e-commerce strategy that incorporates social merchandising techniques if they are to take advantage of the interplay among shoppers and increase average basket spend."

In the report, Parks Associates analysts recommend that developers and service providers account for these standard platforms when designing new digital entertainment services.