iTunes now number two US music retailer
By Nilay Patel 
posted February 26th 2008 12:48PM
posted February 26th 2008 12:48PM
Looks like there's something to this "downloading music" thing after all -- just eight months after topping Amazon, iTunes has now passed Best Buy to become the number two music retailer in the US. Apple says 50 million customers have bought over 4 billion songs, with 20 million sold on Christmas day alone. That leaves just Wal-Mart in first place, but with the percentage of digital music sales growing each quarter, ol' Wally may not be safe for long.
There are many reasons to use iTunes over a CD that do not make one lazy, but the main argument for me is environmental. A lot of plastic goes into a CD, all of which should be around when the sun goes supernova. Then there is the energy used to manufacture the CD, transport it from the factory to the store (likely from halfway around the world), and the energy for me to drive to the store and back home. As a matter of personal environment, you also have to store all the CDs somewhere and the number of albums I have on iTunes would quickly overwhelm my 1 bedroom + den apartment.
There are certainly good reasons to avoid iTunes. Audiophones make the valid claim that compressed music doesn't sound as good as the "real" copy. Other sites may cost less or offer more. And DRM is a real pain.
Personally, I own an iPod and AppleTV so I already use iTunes. I enjoy having one platform that allows me to listen to my music on the go or over my home stereo system (without DRM ever becoming a life changing problem). I am also nearing 30 and cannot hear a fantastic difference between compressed and non-compressed music although I certainly concede that the difference is there for those with more acute hearing. I also respect Apple's payment structure and the order it brought to online music (to me $0.99+tax/song is more than fair). Through in the ease of use and environmental factors and it makes a lot of sense for me to avoid the CD and buy iTunes music.
Apparently there are a lot of people just like me -- but hey, it's cool if your lifestyle makes another system better for you as long as you pay something for another's artistic creation.
@r3loaded £10.40 for a CD? My god man, that's like $500 (or $20.66 for the non-sarcastic). My advice (for the sarcastic) move to the US where at current exchange rates, your monthly salary could allow you to live like a king for the next 20 years. $20.66 for a CD ... insane.
@Phil That's what's known as The Great British Rip-off. Head over to a car maker's UK website, check the pricelists and then compare them to US prices. You will cry.
Jesse - you said: "I think that if you double the bitrate of an MP4, that is the equivalent MP3 bitrate"
Yes. That's why the non-DRM iTunes songs are higher quality than the Amazon songs - because Amazon has 256kbps MP3s, and iTunes has 256kbps MP4s. So by your own admission, the Amazon MP3s would have to be 512kbps in order to sound as good as the DRM-free songs on iTunes.
Why because I listen to music on my iPod why would I want to drive waste gas and the rip the dam CD. That is why.
I just wanna know what age groups actually buy from itunes most people i know from 8-28 don't purchase music, and does itunes get more purchases from their giftcards or creditcards and paypal on itunes.
ask the dang apple chicks!!! LOL
But that would be a nice # to know...post that here to let me know if u find that out!
tks!
FTW!!!!
I wanna open my own online retail real life omg store to get some cash...
ask the dang apple chicks!!! LOL
But that would be a nice # to know...post that here to let me know if u find that out!
tks!
Lots of tweens buy music from iTunes. This generation knows nothing about Napster. They've been using iTunes since they could reach a keyboard. My niece is 9 and has an iTunes allowance. As far as I know, she has never bought anything outside of iTunes. And good luck teaching her how to download something in Amazon. iTunes is just click and go.
they may not know napster but they know limewire
I can't tell you how many times I bought a CD, only to find that the rest of the album sucked, other than the one song I heard that I liked.
I'm much more in favor of buying singles online. Don't care which store, really, but the CD isn't going to last forever.
I didn't know anybody still used iTunes!
~ Zune FTW ~
Try adventuring outside of your rectum more than once a year.
i personally think the Zune Marketplace is awewsome. people say, "iTunes is just a click away when you hear a song you like" but if you have the Zune Pass, it truely a click away. I haven't come across a single artist I couldn't download and I have discovered so much new music that is good through ZMP.
So sad, all these people will one day realize that they bought the lowest quality music available and have nothing to show for it other than files on a hdd that sound like shit.
Apple's non-DRM music is higher quality than Amazon's music, and at 256 kbps AAC it is damn hard to tell the difference between that and a CD unless you have a really expensive setup. So "sounds like shit" isn't exactly accurate. Furthermore, most people buy music to play on their portable devices, so you would have to rip a CD anyway, and then listen to it through regular earbuds or whatever. And at that point I can pretty much guarantee that you won't be able to tell the difference between a lossless file and a 256 kbps AAC file.
It's pretty far from the "lowest quality music available", unless you're just a dumbass and actually believe that.
First, MOST songs are 128kbps, not the 256kbps versions. Second, the ones that are 256kbps are more expenses, at which point buying a CD can often actually be cheaper. Third, the 256kbps versions are still inferior to CD quality. Better yet, go buy some used records at $1-$5 a piece which will blow both away.
Most kids will probably be content with this low quality music if they are only “listening” to it on their ipods (I have listening in quotes because most simply have it on in the background of life and are NOT actually LISTENING to the music). However, what happens when these kids grow up and want a real hifi system at some point? All their music is this compressed garbage? They’ll probably just give up.
First, MOST songs are 128kbps, not the 256kbps versions. Second, the ones that are 256kbps are more expenses, at which point buying a CD can often actually be cheaper. Third, the 256kbps versions are still inferior to CD quality. Better yet, go buy some used records at $1-$5 a piece which will blow both away.
Most kids will probably be content with this low quality music if they are only “listening” to it on their ipods (I have listening in quotes because most simply have it on in the background of life and are NOT actually LISTENING to the music). However, what happens when these kids grow up and want a real hifi system at some point? All their music is this compressed garbage? They’ll probably just give up.
First. 256 kbps files are now the same price as the lesser quality files. (Minus the whole upgrade function, which I'll admit is a rip-off).
And while you are right about the quality issue compared to a CD, the majority of the population can't tell the difference (please withhold your elitist remarks) and even if they could, uncompressed digital music collections are unfeasible (50 MB per song is just too much for downloading issues, storage space, etc.) And while a CD quality can be better, it's not as permanent of a medium (tons of my CDs have failed over time).
There's pros and cons to both. But no one's compelling the sound elitists to buy on iTunes. The question is why they feel so compelled to turn their noses up at the rest of us.
I suppose I'm old-fashioned. I'd rather purchase the full quality CD, and rip it at full quality onto my Hard Drive, than mess with DRM, or worry about bit-rates. Go figure. =/
I hope that you compress the music and don't just use the raw wave.
dbpoweramp is a great program.
I hsve purchased more downloaded music for the game rockband than I have regular music in the last five years. When we can interact more with our music purchases I think you will see alot more interest in music. just my humble opinion
btw, this week rockband downloadable content is a NIN 3 pack of songs. there are definetly new avenues for the industry to sell thier music, lets hope they are quicket to pick up on it than they were mp3 and daps.
We badly need some more realistic worldwide competition in this market.
Wake me up when iTMS/Amazon/whoever sells 192Kb VBR MP3s at $0.10 each.
I've got a few thousand short clips of random shizznit that I'll sell to you for $0.10 per track
This is bad for the marketplace... Bad for digital music as Apple refuses to allow DRM free music or other MP3 players Welcome to the new Microsoft.
Please read... http://www.apple.com/hotnews/thoughtsonmusic/
The labels are current withholding DRM-free music from Apple so as to loosen their stranglehold on the market.
That was over a year ago, Since then The music industry has allowed iTunes to sell non-DRM files from EMI, and that's it. Who have gone on to do the same for other online retailers. They have also allowed Amazon MP3, to sell DRM free music, from the big 4.
Sure steve said it a year ago, but, now, it does their business no good to offer DRM free tracks. You may like to believe Apple is the bright happy company that sacrifices for your benefits, but Logic dictates otherwise.
Yes. Because the music labels are truly the poor pathetic victims in this issue?
Apple wanting non-DRM tracks and apple not wanting to reduce their royalties are two separate issues.
lol i hope worst buy burns down
Only suckers and idiots use iTUNES......seriously.
Lots of people have a hard time feeling sorry for the music industry since they charged £20 for an album in the mid-ninetys. Of that figure, if the artist had a £1 an album record deal, they had a *very* good deal. Still today, if they could charge that they would. If they could charge more they would. P2P brought about change. Without the internet we'd still be paying the same ludicrous prices which just made corporations bigger and gave no more money to artists.
I hope more artists do what Radiohead are doing (I'm not a fan of their music though) and start selling their music direct to the public. Fuck record companies.
@ Christopher
"Poor people and college students shop at Wal-Mart."
They also work there.