Amazon claims 22% of US digital music downloads in Q4 2012

Amazon claimed a 22% share of the digital music download market via its AmazonMP3 platform in the fourth quarter of last year.

That’s according to research from NPD Group in its Annual Music Study and compares to a 15% share in 2011, 13% in 2010, 10% in 2009 and 7% in 2008.

The e-tailer is, however, sharing the space with iTunes, which claimed 63% of the market in Q4 2012, although the Apple platform is down from 68% in 2011 and 69% in 2009.

NPD Group’s senior vice president said that Amazon’s entry into the tablet market probably helped its performance. The company launched the Kindle Fire in 2011 and sells a range of content including music, video and apps on top of the books that the original Kindle provides.

Reports that Amazon is in talks with a number of record labels about launching a subscription streaming service surfaced in March.

Source: Music Week