iTunes generating 25 percent of all U.S. music sales

Apple's iTunes digital media storefront now accounts for 25 percent of all music sales in the U.S., up from 21 percent last year and from 14 percent in 2007, according to a new report issued by market research firm NPD Group. Retail giant Wal-Mart accounts for 14 percent of all U.S. music sales between its physical CD sales and online sales--iTunes passed Wal-Mart to become the nation's largest music retailer in early 2008. Looking solely at digital music sales, iTunes represents 69 percent of all U.S. purchases, followed by Amazon MP3 at 8 percent.

Despite the surging popularity of digital music, physical CD sales still dominate the U.S. market, accounting for 65 percent of all music sold during the first six months of 2009. Wal-Mart leads all sellers with a 20 percent share of the physical music market, followed by big-box retailer Best Buy at 16 percent and Target and Amazon.com tied at 10 percent each. "Many people are surprised that the CD is still the dominant music delivery format, given the attention to digital music and the shrinking retail footprint for physical products," said NPD Group vice president of entertainment industry analysis Russ Crupnick in a prepared statement. "But with digital music sales growing at 15 to 20 percent, and CDs falling by an equal proportion, digital music sales will nearly equal CD sales by the end of 2010."

For more on the NPD Group report:
- read this release

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