Apple's iTunes Is Biggest Music Retailer In America

Apple’s iTunes online music store has replaced Wal-Mart as the biggest music retailer in America, according to market research firm NPD.

The figures collected during January and February counted 12-songs as the equivalent to one album.

The announcement follows the news that Myspace will launch a similar service later this year in conjuction with three major record labels.

The social-networking site will allow its users to stream and download music on embedded media players.

In response to the NPD’s study, Apple also published figures yesterday showing that 50 million users had purchased over 4 billion songs since the iTunes service began five years ago.