iTunes Competitors: We're Number 2! No, We're Number 2! (AMZN, AAPL)

Amazon's MP3 store, launched last fall, is now number two behind iTunes, says USA Today. No way, says eMusic CEO David Pakman: We're in second place -- just like we've always been!

There's no way to actually referee the dispute, because USA Today isn't playing fair: It doesn't actually provide any sales or market share numbers for Amazon (AMZN). Instead, Pakman says on his blog, reporter Jefferson Graham called the four major labels and asked them who their second biggest digital retailer was, and they said Amazon.

Pakman notes that since his company primarily sells indie music, it isn't on the big labels' radar, but that doesn't mean it isn't selling music. He says eMusic sells 7 million tracks a month via its subscription service, and has sold 40 million tracks since Amazon opened its store.

The big picture: Even though its growth rate is slowing, Apple (AAPL) sold 2 billion tracks via iTunes in the last year or so. And until we see real numbers that indicate otherwise, there's no evidence that anyone is chipping away at their hammerlock on the market.

The really big picture: We've seen no evidence to suggest that the introduction of DRM-free music sales (via all the labels at Amazon, but just EMI at iTunes) have done anything to goose digital music sales overall. Hence their new-found interest in various kinds of subscription and ad-supported music services. Better late than never. But it would have been better several years ago.

See Also: How Are Those DRM-Free MP3 Sales Doing?