NPD: iTunes still #1 in music downloads, Amazon grows

Apple’s iTunes Store remains the dominant online music store, according to the latest data from the NPD Group. In 2008, NPD claims, 87% of digital music buyers in the United States used iTunes to download music. Amazon MP3 claimed 16% of that market during the same period, although those surveyed could select more than one store. “It used to be iTunes was first and second was practically nobody,” said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick. “I suspect a lot of consumers, some of them a little older, are still buying CDs,” he continued. “That’s going to help Amazon because they aren’t battling over every crumb with iTunes. They’ll share some customers and have some of their own and that will help the company with growth.”