The amount of music consumers acquired in 2007 rose by 6 percent, according to a report by the NPD Group on Tuesday. However, they spent less. In addition, the increase in legal music purchases could not offset the declining sales of CDs.

As a result, the net spending on music in 2007 declined 10 percent, fro US$44 to $40 per capita. Significant in the findings was that 48 percent of U.S. teens didn’t purchase a single physical CD in 2007, compared to 38 percent in 2006.

Legal music downloads now account for 10 percent of the music acquired in the U.S. Reflecting the growth in that sector of the market, Apple’s iTunes Music Store became the second-largest music retailer in the U.S. after Wal-Mart, based on the amount of music sold during 2007, the report said.

"The continued growth in legal download sites is encouraging, yet the industry struggles to improve the value of each digital customer," said Russ Crupnick, entertainment industry analyst for The NPD Group. "With so many baby boomers and gen-Xers entering the market, there are certainly opportunities to sell more digital albums, promote older catalog titles, or create bundles that will raise revenues. In the near term that’s going to be the best means available to narrow the gap on dwindling CD revenues."

iPO notes that a ten percent decline in purchases is not too bad considering that customers have learned how to buy individual songs that they like on iTunes instead of being forced to buy an entire CD of songs to get a few good titles. This practice simply reflects the preferences of and good sense by consumers in the era of online music.