iTunes Store becomes second biggest music retailer

According to a Reuters report, Apple‘s iTunes Music Store is now the second largest music retailer in the United States. The statistic is particularly notable since the retailer category includes both physical and digital media, with only Walmart’s physical CDs coming ahead of iTunes.

Based on 2007 sales, legal music downloads now account for 10 percent of music acquired in the United States, but the increase failed to offset a decline in physical CD sales. The amount of music purchased by consumers rose 6 percent from a surge in digital music sales. But actual spending rates across the industry declined by 10 percent due to lackluster CD sales, dropping from about $44 per capita to $40 among Internet users.

The iTunes Store now has more than 50 million customers and has sold a total of 4 billion songs.
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Smoking Popes to perform new album live in March

Smoking Popes Though a label and title has not been announced, the Smoking Popes have unveiled plans to perform the entirety of their long-awaited new abum on March 2nd at Schuba’s in Chicago.

The band’s last proper full length was Destination Failure released in 1997. Since then, the band has released the live album, At Metro [CD/DVD] and the covers compilation The Party’s Over.

Some rough mixes from the new album are available on their myspace page.
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