iTMS Sells 100,000,000th Song

Macslacker writes "At 10:26 PM PDT on Sunday, July 11, Apple apparently sold its 100 millionth song at the iTunes Music Store. While the contest may now be over, congrats to Apple for a job well done."

Comments

I never used the service until...

[CrackedButter]

the contest was annouced, Apple is the real winner here, i bought 20 songs I would never of bought. I've had itunes for ages and never used it.
The counter is still running for those who didn't download the 3rd party counters, even after the comp, they are still selling song by the thousands. its already very nearly gone over another 100,000 songs already, it just doesn't stop!

Re:News about how great Apple is, Stuff that Matte

[digithead]

This isn't a flame on Sanity, but just some thoughts on the points that were made.

I agree that the iTMS doesn't change the situation for artists, but given the resistance from the overall recording industry to the model that iTMS has been so successful with I still think it was a big step.

In terms of the used CD thing. Hey, nobody is forcing you to buy from iTMS. I still think it's a good deal once you factor in shipping costs (or local sales tax). Plus there's the instance gratification thing. Apparently others agree or they wouldn't have just sold their 100,000,000th song.

Anyway, Apple isn't the bad guy here. The RIAA and recording industry are! Apple's just trying to make a buck by selling iPods (after operating costs they really aren't making anything off of the songs).

Finally, I don't feel the least bit guilty about buying from iTMS anymore than I'd feel guilty buying a CD. In fact those buying CD's are doing more to prop up the "old regime" IMHO. Short of a full boycott of buying music, I don't see how any purchases under the current model wouldn't "prop up the old regime."

Where does that $0.99 go?

[dykofone]

Interestingly enough, the track he downloaded [Somersault (DangerMouse Remix) by Zero7] isn't copyright protected, sine it's a remix. DangerMouse even wanted it to be freely available for download, as mentioned in this article.

In fact, you yourself can have a free copy of that 100,000,000th song here.

So if Apple is selling free music, do they get to pocket that money, with no music labels to pay off? Or was the song free to download, in which case why didn't anyone just sit there downloading free tracks all day trying to hit that 100,000,000th download?

I (heart) Apple

[yuvtob]

1. When the record companies sold their 100-billionth CD, they probably celebrated by jacking up the prices - not by giving stuff away.

2. If You'll look at the prize - it's no biggie in terms of money (it's not even a car). It's all worth less than 15K, yet it's something that most people lust for - the coolest laptop, 10,000 songs, and the best MP3 player...

Now that's what I call a cool company.

Re:Sure....

[TheRaven64]

I probably wouldn't buy movies this way (although since all of the DVDs I buy are via the Internet it would still be quicker). I would, however, buy TV shows. It's getting to the point now that there are so many adverts on TV that I just can't be bothered to watch it anymore. 15 minutes of adverts in an hour is just not funny. I would like to be able to download TV shows with the same kind of terms as iTMS currently uses:

• MPEG-4 audio and Video (file sizes probably around 200MB.
• Watch on 5 Macs / PCs, or burn to DVD using iDVD.
• Watch trailers from iTMS.

An iPod like device probably wouldn't be useful attached to this service, but an OS X-based PVR would.

Now *that* is a good idea

[brunes69]

I never thought of that, but man I think that is an excellent idea. Think about it...

1. Tv shows are small enough to download in a reasonable time. As well they don't have surround sound tracks to worry about.
2. The success of selling shows in DVD format already has proven the market for for-pay TV is viable
3. No one has time to watch all their favorite shows whenever they want, and many people would rather fork over 10 bucks a month to downoa their favorite shows than fork over a few hundred upfront for a PVR.
4. This would help the networks combat the PVR industry and how it is rapidly making advertisements obsolete. By selling the content directly to the customer they bypass the need for ads altogether
5. Networks would no longer need to waste budget on crap like "Neilson" ratings that are subjective at best - they would have an exact metric of what shows are popular so they can devote more time / money to them
6. It would mean less shows would need to be cancelled - if a show did not have a s wide an audience, but the existing audience was very loyal (say, Farscape), you could just charge more money for the show and still make a profit.

Re:News about how great Apple is, Stuff that Matte

[Anonymous Coward]

You know my blood boils each and every fucking time I hear those worthless idiots from DownHill Battle referenced.

Its too expensive? $1 is the perfect price to demo an album and actually get a little sample of the full album. I generally buy one song from the iTMS and then if I like it I buy the full album. I use to download the songs from a P2P and then do the same thing or discard the tune, but I never really liked it. It felt too much stealing a car to see if I liked it or not (fuck off any asshole that references piracy is not theft). Sure, if I liked the car, I'd take it back in the morning and write out a check...if I didn't, well thats the dealers problem and I'll leave it on the side of the road. Oh yeah, fuck off anyone that points out minor flaws in analogies.

Past that, I buy the full album, used or not. If I can find it used, thats what I pick up.

As for artists getting ripped off?

Bull fucking shit. Do you believe everything crackheads like Courtney Love tell you? She is so fucked up that she never read her contracts, spent all the money and then wrote a bunch of articles claiming the industry was ripping her off.

I work in the backline for several major artists as well as quite a few up and coming artists. I get paid for my work. A lot of times, the new guys pay me to come in (well, through their lable) and I'll sit around for 8 hours while they try to write their album in the studio. Thats cool when you are fronting the costs, but when you are on someone elses dime, thats STILL going to come out of your pocket somewhere. Those 8 hours I'm doing nothing is still billable hours. If you showed up to work and your boss didn't have anything to do for you, you'd still get paid...

I'm never amazed by the number of guys that don't have a clue about getting in and getting done. My partner and I have worked development deals in the past where upcoming artists are set here for a few weeks to kinda get a feel of how things are done. The partner is kinda a grey hair in the industry and takes them under his wings and explains how things should be done and all that. Gets them ready to go back to the coast and have shit ready.

Still, these guys don't get the clue that this is costing them money and fuck around and then expect us to do all their work and we won't. I've got friends at the Matrix that can do that for them if they'd like, but quite honestly, they ain't good enough and don't have enough money to pay those guys (girls).

The label takes a risk and says for the next 7 years (or until you release the prerequired albums), if you wish to be a major lable musician (always sign your contracts in LA because it will limit the time of your servitude -- and ALWAYS go for a *SINGLE* album deal with opportunity of buyout or renegotiation). For the time of your contract, you know that the money the lable has given you will come out of your pocket. Make the best out of it. Don't be a dumbass. Don't hire limos to take you to and from the studio. Don't waste it on engineers and techs like me while you are wasting our time. We don't do this as a job, but because we like the art...if you aren't producing art, you *ARE* wasting my time. I don't care if its bad art or otherwise, be prepared.

Have a decent lawyer, and don't sign with the first industry lawyer that presents you with a contract. You have the option of bringing your own in from the street. My intellectual property lawyer that I use for patents in my technical life was FAR more informed about the contracts and otherwise than the one they provided me. He charged less, and was on my side. Never trust someone elses lawyer to help you out.

Even if you do, if you follow the contract to its letter, you can make a decent amount of change. The guys I'm working with now aren't living like superstars, but they have been pocketting more that I do at my technical job -- and I can guarentee you haven't heard of them yet.

So, when artists pick up 10% of the gross, th