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Legal US Music Downloads Beat CD Single Sales
Kelly McNeill writes "I've received a lot of feedback from osViews readers (my site) asking about the music download survey that we've been conducting over the past few weeks, saying that osViews readership must be skewed in one particular direction to get the results we did. The primary reason given is not necessarily the fact that iTunes has significantly surpassed its competitors, but that the results show legal digital downloads surpassing even CD sales. I must admit that even I thought this a was a bit peculiar, but now, according to a BBC World news report, it seems the survey is correct. Digital downloads have surpassed even physical CD sales!" Update: 11/04 23:35 GMT by S : The BBC story refers to CD single sales, so Mr.McNeill maybe not be quite as right as he thinks, sadly.
What's the surprise? People with any kind of feel for the pulse of technology have known for a long time that once digital sales of music finally started to not totally suck, they'd catch on.
I guess album art is really dead? That's too bad as it is an artform in of itself.
Convenience is really the key for online music stores. Browsing from your home at all hours of day and night, previewing a track - something you may not be able to do where you buy music - the ability to "impulse buy" a song you just heard or remembered, and the instant gratification of having it available only a few moments after you make your decision (unless you are on a slow connection) are big factors. The "what other people purchased" up-sell can be a way to broaden your music library as well.
As the BBC article mentions, it's not a truly fair comparison because it's all tracks sold online vs. only singles. I purchased a number of my tracks as part of an album, and I don't often buy CD singles, either (never, actually). So, it would be nice if we could compare full album sales instead of the unbalance "tracks vs. singles".
Still, it is nice to see online music doing well - IMHO, anyway. DRM, as always, will remain a key issue here.
That what was all this school was for... to teach us how to solve our own problems. -- janeowit
Well, yeah, but people have been saying for years that most CDs have only one or sometimes two songs that most purchasers want. So in most caseds, a single-tune download has literally replaced a single CD sale.
Those who do study history are doomed to stand helplessly by while everyone else repeats it.
... would have made if this service was out in 1999.
Granted, legal digital music has been successful, but how many people out there still hate the RIAA?
To all of those who have called music downloaders thieves, all I can say is I told you so. People are basically honest, and they're willing to pay for good service.
"Derp de derp."
"but they're getting the last laugh, and still getting paid."
No they're not. Part of what sparked this is that the quality of music has gone down. They were making money by selling albums at a premium with only 2-3 songs the listener actually wants to have. That translates to roughly $5 a song. Now it's what, $1 a song? To put it another way, people will spend $10 instead of spending $45.
Over time, it might turn into better revenue, as more and more artists will have less and less pressure to create a whole album. But in the short term, the RIAA risks a huge chunk of their margins.
"Derp de derp."