Yesterday Ars Technica got hold of a juicy report from the NPD Group, the research firm that tracks U.S. music sales. Apple, the report says, has bested Wal-Mart to become the top music retailer in the country.
This isn't unexpected. Wal-Mart mainly sells CDs, and people are abandoning CDs. Apple sells digital tracks, fast becoming the dominant music format.
According to Ars Technica, NPD puts Apple's share of the music business at 19 percent. Wal-Mart is at 15 percent, Best Buy is at 13, followed by Amazon and Target at 6 percent each.
As Ars notes, Apple's dominance won't be hailed by folks in the music industry. Digital downloads are less profitable than CDs. A previous NPD report showed that Americans bought more music in 2007 than in 2006, but the record industry's revenues fell during the year because many of those new sales were digital.
Silicon Alley Insider is surprised by one aspect of the report: Amazon's low market share despite its introduction of a fantastic MP3 music store. This could be because Amazon, too, still mainly sells CDs -- but does it suggest that Amazon's digital sales efforts aren't going so well?
Let's hope not -- for the good of the music-lovers everywhere, Apple should have some competition.
The world in the iPod
The microchip that runs Apple's popular music player is made in India, Taiwan, China and Silicon Valley. Is this an example of how globalization works to everyone's benefit -- or a sign that the world economy is about to roll over America?
By Andrew Leonard, Salon
iLove it or iHate it
Is Apple's new blue bombshell a hit or a dud?
By Janelle Brown and Scott Rosenberg, Salon
An end to the Apple turnover
Steve Jobs accepts the inevitable -- and embraces the CEO title.
By Lydia Lee, Salon
Steve Jobs' iTunes dance
Now the Apple CEO says he would gladly sell songs without digital restrictions, if the record companies let him. That's hardly a brave defiance, and besides, I don't believe him.
By Cory Doctorow, Salon
Apple's iTunes sells 5 billion songs, but you don't own them
Why DRM means your music isn't really yours.
By Farhad Manjoo, Salon
Steve Jobs’ 2009 letter to the community about his health.
Terse and obfuscatory, this thing is Jobs all over.
Apple's obsession with secrecy grows stronger
Apple’s decision to limit communication with the media, shareholders and the public is at odds with the approach of other companies, which are embracing online outlets like blogs and Twitter.
By Brad Stone and Ashlee Vance, The New York Times
The Untold Story: How the iPhone blew Up the wireless industry
This 4.8-ounce sliver of glass and aluminum is an explosive device that has forever changed the mobile-phone business.
By Fred Vogelstein, Wired
A list of Steve Jobs' best quotes
An example: "The cure for Apple is not cost-cutting. The cure for Apple is to innovate its way out of its current predicament."
By Owen Linzmayer, Wired
The Secret Diary of Steve Jobs
Fake Steve Jobs tells all in this hilarious and often informative act of fraudulent auto-blography.
Apple Announces New iPhone OS 3.1 at Keynote
Good Vibrations Sold Everywhere