iTunes breaks into Top 10 music retailers

iTunes breaks into Top 10 music retailers

The record stores might be on their way out as Apple's online music store, iTunes, has outperformed two of its high street competitors by breaking into the list of the Top ten music retailers for the very first time.

Figures released by market analyst, the NPD Group, showed that Apple's iTunes music store had recorded better sales than Tower Records and Borders in the US.

NPD looked at the sales and download figures for moths of July, August and September. The criterion selected was that every 12 songs downloaded would be considered as one CD album sold. Working on these lines, a table of the top 10 music stores was created.

The results showed that iTunes occupied the joint seventh position (up by seven places in comparison with the previous year) along with Tower Records. Borders climbed down the ladder to no.9.

Russ Crupnick, music and movies industry analyst for NPD, feels the sales of iTunes may accelerate further during the Christmas season as they are considered as very good gift options.

"It's not inconceivable to see them cracking into higher ground in the foreseeable future," according to Crupnick.

Jason Jenkins, of the technology magazine T3, termed the findings as 'inevitable.' Jenkins attributes the ever-rising popularity of iTunes to the user-friendliness of the device and its pricing. He believes that CDs were always a rip-off and the customers were virtually being looted with the heavy CD rates. According to Jenkins, with the tide turning in favor of iTunes, the music vendors will have to reorganize their activities in accordance with the changing demands of the music buffs.

Renowned music stores like HMV and Virgin have even started an internet services to try and counteract the iTunes mania.

Even as people are going gaga over iTunes, the retail leader Wal-Mart managed to sustain its peak position and Amazon.com to remained steady at no.4.

iTunes revealed that it had so far sold over 600m downloads and 30m iPods. 70% of the PC-based digital download market this year has been sustained by iTunes. Apple chief Steve Jobs credited the mammoth sales figures to the growing market for legal video downloads.

The era of CDs is slowing but surely drawing to a close.

*The list of the top music retailers are as follows: 1. Wal-Mart, 2. Best Buy, 3. Target, 4. Amazon.com, 5. FYE, 6. Circuit City, 7. Apple iTunes & Tower Records, 9. Sam Goody and 10. Borders.