You are here: silicon.com > Networks > WebWatch

WebWatch

iTunes storms into top 10 music sales chart

Final countdown for traditional outlets?

Tags: digital music, itunes, itunes music store, apple itunes music store steve jobs ipod digital music

By John Borland

Published: 22 November 2005 08:50 GMT

Apple's iTunes music store now sells more music than Tower Records or Borders, according to analyst firm the NPD Group.

The research company tracks downloads from digital music stores, as well as people's purchasing habits at offline retail stores. During the past three months, iTunes made it to the US top 10 sales list for the first time, NPD said.

NPD music and movies industry analyst Russ Crupnick said: "Taking their growth and others' pain, it's not inconceivable to see them cracking into higher ground in the foreseeable future."

The benchmark is a meaningful sign in digital music's steady progress - and Apple's domination of that trend - toward becoming a significant part of the overall music business.

According to figures from the Recording Industry Association of America, digital sales accounted for slightly more than four per cent of the market during the first half of 2005, up from about 1.5 per cent during the first half of 2004.

Apple's iTunes has maintained more than 70 per cent of the PC-based digital music download market throughout 2005, Crupnick said. That market share is likely to climb slightly when Macintosh customers are added in but NPD does not track those purchases, he said.

For its comparison, the company compared 12 separate song downloads at iTunes to a single album purchase at an ordinary retail store. Using that measure, iTunes scored higher than Tower, Borders and Sam Goody.

Wal-Mart, Best Buy, Target, Amazon.com, FYE and Circuit City all scored higher than iTunes, NPD said.

John Borland writes for CNET News.com

  1. Zones
  2. Management
  3. Networks
  4. Software
  5. IT Services
  6. Hardware
  1. Verticals
  2. Public Sector
  3. Financial Services
  4. Retail & Leisure
Read and write about internet access at the airports of the world at atlarge.com. Rate airports, and see what others have to say...

Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: How the telcos could save themselves Doomed network operators could thrive with a bit of innovation

Peter Cochrane Peter Cochrane's Blog: Facebook saves teen from prison Another unexpected impact of social networking


  • Jobs
EPG/UI Business Analyst

A product like this needs an outstanding User Interface - easy to navigate, well presented and more importantly promoting and facilitating the ...

Floorplanning Manager

ROLE: To support the design and deployment of a new Floorplanning system and processes To manage and maintain display group level floor plans for ...

Snr PHP Developer - City Lonon

Snr PHP Developer - City Lonon required for one of the world's largest online dance music stores, with over one million tracks on vinyl, CD and ...

Agenda Setters 2009
Welcome to the ninth annual Agenda Setters poll – silicon.com's list of the top 50 most influential individuals in the technology and IT industries, from techies and CIOs to entrepreneurs and business leaders. Find out more in our latest special report.





Quick Sitemap Links: