The new online store is the fruit of a partnership between the online payment voucher company 3V and digital media delivery specialists 7Digital. The two firms have announced their intent to go head-to-head with Apple's established iTunes service in the Irish download market.

7Digital MD Ben Drury said in a statement: "There is no doubt that the majority of consumers are choosing to purchase their music and video online rather than from a high street store. 7digital’s partnership with 3V means that consumers who don’t have a credit or debit card can also enjoy the benefits of online shopping and have instant access to the best music and video available."

New and existing 3V customers will be able to view the latest music and video releases, with free previews available before purchase. Customers will also be able to avail of the site’s search engine to find their favourite bands and artists, and monitor their purchases through an individual shopping basket facility.

Payment for downloads from the new service will be made using 3V Vouchers, a prepaid online shopping voucher that consists of a single-use 16-digit VISA number. Customers can buy these vouchers from participating Payzone shops nationwide in the same way that they currently purchase credit for their mobile phones.

7digital's catalogue of music and video downloads offers releases from the likes of Radiohead, Travis, The Rolling Stones and Pink Floyd. Tracks downloaded will be encoded in the MP3 format at a bitrate of 320kbps and will be free of Digital Rights Management (DRM) technology. They will be playable on multiple devices including Apple’s iPod, Creative’s Zen, mobile phones and PDAs and each track can be downloaded to such devices a maximum of five times.

Customers can also store a music or video download purchased from the website in their '7digital Locker', an online storage space that users have access to from any computer connected to the Internet.

The 3V store can be accessed at https://www.3v.ie/7digital_store.html