According to the latest data from NPD group, digital music continued to increase share of overall music sales volume in US, while CD sales still remained the most popular format with 65 percent market share. Paid digital downloads comprised 35 percent of music sales.

When it comes to unit sales volume of music sold at retail – Apple iTunes leads in US with 25 percent market share, which is up from 21 percent in 2008 and 14 percent in 2007. Walmart was in second place with 14 percent sales followed by Best Buy in third place. If we just consider digital downloads, iTunes had 69 percent market share in first half of 2009 followed by AmazonMP3 with 8 percent market share.

“The growth of legal digital music downloads, and Apple’s success in holding that market, has increased iTunes’s overall strength in the retail music category,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. “But the importance of the big box retails shouldn’t be dismissed, as long as the majority of music consumers continue to buy CDs.”

We believe within next 2-4 years digital music sales will surpass CD sales as more people become awake of ease of buying music online.
[Via NPD]