Back in April, iTunes took the lead as music retailer from Wal-Mart. The first half of year is now officially over, and iTunes is still in command of the lead. According to the NPD’s latest release of music retail rankings from January 08 – June 08, iTunes remains on top while Amazon moved up from the fifth spot, to fourth place.

1. iTunes
2. Wal-Mart (Walmart, Walmart.com, Walmart Music Downloads)
3. Best Buy (Best Buy, Bestbuy.com, Best Buy Digital Music Store)
4. Amazon (Amazon.com, AmazonMP3.com)
5. Target (Target and Target.com)

Russ Crupnick, an analyst of NPD had this to say about the recent rankings, “We expect Apple will consolidate its lead in the retail music market, as CD sales continue to slow” … (on the rise of Amazon from #5 to #4) “Amazon’s CD buyers tend to be older, so they haven’t abandoned the CD format to the extent seen in the average music buyer. Plus Amazon’s successful introduction of its digital download store will help the company improve its position in the future”

Posted in News, iTunes |