Apple edges ahead as 3rd largest U.S. music retailer

Possibly heralding the demise of physical music format, Apple edged ahead of Amazon.com to become the third largest retailer of music in the Unted  States. Having captured just under 10 percent of the market, Apple is now just behind Best Buy (13.8 percent) and Wal-Mart (15.8 percent), the nation's largest music retailers.

This bodes well for fans of online music sales but paints a less sunny picture for fans of the traditional brick-and-mortar record store. Which brings up another interesting point: Did anyone else notice that nine of the stores in the top ten are now "big box" retailers like Wal-Mart, Target and Barnes & Noble? With the demise of Tower Records it became quite clear that the days of the large-scale music retailer were numbered but these statistics really drive the point home. The idea of a "music store" is all but dead. Sure, independent enthusiasts and vinyl junkies will (hopefully?) always have a place to get their fix but for the rest of us, the idea of picking an album off of the shelf at the record store may soon be but a memory.

For more on Apple's dominance of online sales:
- See this Gizmodo article
Related article:
- Apple's hot iPhone hits shelves Friday