Vying for dominance
to coveted ears

Amazon's MP3 store — which, unlike iTunes and Rhapsody — sells music sans DRM protection, was crowned No. 2 in digital sales, reports USA Today.

The company wouldn't divulge how many songs it's sold since its launch six months ago; it merely said consumers love the experience. Amazon expects to go international this year.

The USA Today announcement was disputed by David Pakman, CEO of eMusic. Parkman claims USA Today ignored eMusic because of its subscription model and support of primarily independent music. He said eMusic sells over 7 million tracks a month.

Regardless of who earned second-place, Apple continues to dominate digital sales despite its stubborn copy-protected stance on music. (The protection prevents music lovers from swapping tracks, putting them online or playing them on non-Apple-friendly units.) It is currently the largest music retailer in the US behind Wal-Mart, claiming 80 percent of digital music sales.

239 million digital tracks have been sold this year, compared with 189 million at the same time last year, according to Nielsen SoundScan.