So, who's second-place behind iTunes, at least when if comes to paid downloads?  Perhaps the discussion is academic outside of industry circles, though USA Today recently crowned Amazon MP3 as the number two download destination.  The report, which surfaced Wednesday, noted that Amazon MP3 "has quietly become number two in digital sales since opening nearly six months ago," though supporting data was not included. 

In fact,  Amazon director of digital music Pete Baltaxe declined to offer sales specifics for the report.  That quickly rankled eMusic chief executive David Pakman, who protected an earlier second-place claim and pointed to monthly sales volumes of roughly seven million.  "Outside of iTunes, no one sells more music digitally than eMusic, and we don't plan on giving up that title anytime soon," Pakman asserted. 

The eMusic model wraps downloads within monthly subscriptions, complicating the argument somewhat.  But neither store is arguing against DRM-free content, as both offer MP3s exclusively.

USA Today, "Amazon takes on Apple with copy-protection-free music"

17dots (Pakman Blog), "Who's really number two?"