You Can Break Your Leg on the First Step

AmazonMP3, launched in September, is second to Apple’s iTunes Store in selling downloaded tracks of music, but the difference between number 1 and 2 is a huge one — Apple iTunes sales were 10x that of Amazon according to market research firm NPD.

Other interesting factoids are that the iTunes store has now beat out Walmart as the top music retailer.

The NPD study shows no evidence that Apple customers are leaving iTunes for the DRM-free environment of AmazonMP3. Not surprising really — most people are going to put the music on their iPod anyway so who cares about DRM, the only real concern is how easy is it to take the song and put it somewhere I can play it. DRM or not DRM is a theoretical and boring argument for most people. When they copy music, it’s to put it on an iPod.

The Industry Standard Story