According to new data from the tracking firm NPD Group, Apple’s iTunes digital media store is now the number 2 music retailer in the U.S., just behind Wal-Mart.
The iTunes Store has managed to move ahead of both Best Buy and Target as the no. 2 music retailer. It now has over 50 million customers and has sold over 4 billion songs.
The NPD stated that legal music downloads now makes up 10% of the music acquired by consumers in the U.S. based on 2007 sales.
They cited though that CD sales are severly declining.
Digital music sales caused a surge in overall music purchased, which rose by 6% this year.
Spending rates dropped though as the music industry dropped 10% due to lacking CD sales.
The NPD stated that one million consumers stopped buying CDs in 2007.