The mathemagicians at NPD Group have released their data on the U.S. music retail market for the first half of 2008 and—would you believe it?—number one on that list is Chipotle. You know, I too was shocked, but apparently people love the combination of spicy pepper sauce and hip-hop. Who knew?
Back in reality, however, iTunes is fiercely holding its number one spot, which it first snagged last April. Wal-Mart and Best Buy are holding silver and bronze respectively, with Amazon in fourth, and Target as numero cinco.
Amazon has actually moved up in these rankings—they were in fifth place last time around, due primarily to—according to NPD—“less erosion” in online CD sales and Amazon’s new digital music download service.
What of the future?
“We expect Apple will consolidate its lead in the retail music market, as CD sales continue to slow,” said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group.
Sounds like a banner time to launch a new digital player/music service, right?
