News

iTunes Leads All Music Retailers with 25 Percent of All Sales

2:56 p.m. · August 18, 2009 · by Michael Hoven

Digital sales of music continue to grow and now account for 35 percent of all music sales. Yet even though the substantial majority of sales still come on CD (at 65 percent--vinyl sales are apparently statistically insignificant), iTunes is the single largest music retailer in the United States, having captured 69 percent of the digital market, reports the Business Insider. In overall sales iTunes beat unfashionable big-box stores WalMart and Best Buy, and held on to its massive lead over AmazonMP3 in digital sales.

Why is AmazonMP3 at a lowly 8 percent? It's digital, people; iTunes doesn't have better sound, and Amazon does have daily specials. However, the real threat to iTunes appears to be streaming music, a favorite of digital prognosticators and record labels. But will streaming music be able to take market shares away at the majority of music purchases, which (still!) involve actual, physical CDs?

[The Business Insider]