iTunes accounts for over a quarter of U.S. music sales in 2009

Apple’s iTunes Store accounted for more than a quarter of all music sales in the U.S. during 2009, according to a Billboard report. The report states that iTunes grew its share of U.S. sales to 26.7%, up from 21.4% in 2008 and more than double the 12.7% share it held in 2007. Second-place Walmart, meanwhile, saw its share shrink to 12.5% in 2009 from 15% in the prior year, something the report attributes to the retail chain’s scaling back of floor space dedicated to CDs. Amazon also grew its share of U.S. sales, accounting for 1.7% in 2009 compared to 4.9% in 2008; however, its iTunes rival MP3 store accounted for only 1.3%, up from 0.8% in 2008. Overall, digital accounts in the top 20 overall accounted for a combined 35.5% of all sales, up from 31.6% in 2008. [via Fortune]