iTunes Passes Best Buy, Now #2 Music Retailer in U.S.

By Michael Santo
Editor-in-Chief, RealTechNews

Last June, iTunes passed Amazon.com to become the #3 music retailer. Eight months later, it’s passed Best Buy and is now #2, trailing only Wal-Mart.

The numbers are - well, pretty amazing. Apple says there are now 50 million iTunes Store customers, with a total of over four billion songs sold - and according to Apple, with an incredible 20 million songs sold on Christmas Day 2007 alone (wasn’t anyone opening presents rather than buying more?).

Let’s face it, CDs are now passe. With music downloading (legal guys, not just illegal!) becoming more and more the norm, Wal-Mart had better start watching its back.

That said, I’d really like to know how Amazon MP3 is doing. With all their music DRM-free, I would expect them to make some serious inroads - except perhaps for one thing. Using iTunes (the software) to integrate with your iPod, of course it’s easier to just go to iTunes (the store) to buy.

However, all the people I know are looking at Amazon MP3 as their first choice, not iTunes. Of course, the signing of Sony BMG just happened in mid-January - but I’d still expect (hope) Amazon MP3 can make a dent in the iTunes juggernaut.

Check out the full Apple press release here.