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iTunes in Top 10 U.S. Music Retailers

An NPD Press release is making headlines around the Mac web.

According the The NPD Group, in Q3 2005, Apple's iTunes Music store made its way into the Top 10 list of U.S. retailers based on "equivalent number of units sold". (Number in parenthesis are 2004's Q3 position)


1. Wal-Mart (1)
2. Best Buy (2)
3. Target (3)
4. Amazon.com (4)
5. FYE (10)
6. Circuit City (Tied for 5)
7. AppleiTunes (14)
8. Tower Records (Tied for 7)
9. Sam Goody (Tied for 5)
10. Borders (9)


NPD used 12 tracks per album in order to compare sales between physical CDs and individual tracks.

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81 months ago
Awesome. Long time it hasn't been already included. Next milestone target: surpassing Amazon.

Also link from zdnet:

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-5965314.html
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81 months ago
I would have assumed that this was the case anyway, but it's nice to actually see it!
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81 months ago
Walmart is cheapest arent they?... so if Apple inroduces variable pricing they will no longer be on the chart...

Just my 2 cents.
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81 months ago
This means a lot of people still buy music the old fashion way.
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81 months ago
Hopefully this will give apple more juice when negotiating with the recording industry. (more apple juice!)
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81 months ago
here's the gig folks. This is flawed data. People are counting every CD as the rough equivalent of 12 iTMS tracks. The reasons that this is borked are A) note every CD Has 12 Tracks, Lots have Less, B) The data counts CDs that people buy for only one Track as 12 Tracks, and C) It vcounts iTunes Purchased albums as the actual Number of Tracks instead of the Default 12. Granted, C is peobably just as well since just as many albums have more than 12 Tracks as Have less. With iTMS people have the option to skip those tracks therefore artificially deflating the iTunes Numbers. If there were some way to Track it, which there isn't, and it were possible to make an Apples to Apples comparison, no pun intended, Apple's rank would jump by 1 or 2 spots at least. Punching Out.
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81 months ago
nae bad, nae bad...
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81 months ago
So this must include CD's sold too right? If thats pretty amazing.
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81 months ago
This is a MacRumor how???
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81 months ago
iTunes is still much too flaky for my tastes. Album buying, for instance, has been down since at least yesterday (at least for me). You are not warned about the issue before you click on buy, but after. This produces a less than optimal buying experience: somewhat analagous to showing up at the register with a CD and being told by a Walmart clerk that they won't sell it to you.

Although I do use iTunes music store occasionally, I also have to confess to an unpleasant early experience, as well. My wife gave me a gift certificate two years ago. At the time, iTunes did not ask for confirmation before activating the gift certificate from an email. As a result, the $50 was inadvertantly added to my wife's account, not mine. Apple would not move the credit. Although I can still use the songs, this is the kind of thing that makes you think twice about Apple's DRM.

Finally, I know many of you out there are not sympathetic, but the iTunes Music Store/iPod gapless playback issue is still a barrier for many of us. It is aggravating to see videos added but this basic functionality still lacking.

I guess that what I am trying to say is that while iTunes may be the best thing out there, it still has a long way to go...
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