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Apple Is Now the #1 US Music Retailer
Quantrell writes "A leaked e-mail shows that Apple hit the #1 spot for music sales in January. The article speculates that consumers cashing in their holiday gift cards may have played a role; but of course Wal-Mart and the other retailers sold gift cards too. The news is a mixed bag for the record labels. 'For the music industry, there is a dark side to Apple's ascension to the top of the charts. Buying patterns for digital downloads are different, as customers are far more likely to cherry pick a favorite track or two from an album than purchase the whole thing. In contrast, brick-and-mortar sales are predominantly high-margin CDs.'" We recently discussed Wal-Mart's role in the music business, back when they were selling nearly 20% of US music. For January Apple was at 19% and Wal-Mart at 15%.
The only reason apple don't offer all their music without DRM is because the record companies won't let them. They are allowing amazon to have DRM free music in order to try and reduce apple's marketshare and thus reduce apple's chips at the negotiation table with the record companies.
Not so much a mixed bag as it is further evidence that the RIAAs business model is flawed.
Here they have the worlds largest brick-and-mortar store and the most influential online music retailers moving ungodly units of their crappy products and still they cry poverty.
"more importantly though this "cherry picking" shows the record labels that consumers are tired of the same market drivel and if you give us good content that we like we'll pay."
Do you really think it shows that? I don't.
I think it shows that people are ever more shallow in their music tastes and now only want those one or two big hits, ignoring the rest of the material. How many times have you listened to an album, or an artist's entire catalogue, and come to love one of the b-sides or album tracks more than the one or two big hits? For me it's a lot.
But then I suppose I'm not buying Britney or whatever the big thing is that the idiot children listen to these days.
You should be thankful for Apple and the fact that they are #1. It's because of Apple that the labels have allowed Amazon to sell MP3's without any kind of DRM whatsoever. If Apple had never gotten such a stranglehold on the digital marketplace, most of the labels would have never allowed Amazon to sell DRM free music. I'm glad that Apple is where it is and I hope that people continue to buy music from them. I won't be among them but as long as Apple keeps doing what it's doing, the labels will allow Amazon and others to sell music without DRM as a counterweight and smart consumers will be able to purchase legit, DRM free music.
Please. Remember Apple, like Walmart, is a reseller. They have to abide by the vendor (music labels) on their product. One of the restrictions of Apple reselling is that they have to use DRM for music the labels insist on having DRM. If Apple was so keen on locking you into their product, they wouldn't be selling DRM free tracks at all, and the iPod wouldn't play AAC or MP3. In fact, they would have created their own proprietary music format instead of extending AAC to include DRM. I wonder which company would do that?
Well, there's spam egg sausage and spam, that's not got much spam in it.
Have you heard of iTunes Plus? No? Then investigate it and then kindly STFU.
Last I checked that other company would license their embedded codec with DRM to any manufacturer. Name one player besides Apple's that plays iTMS protected AAC.
Apple sells DRM free tracks. But how many people do you know that buy from iTMS that have a DRM free collection? Even if you bought just one DRMed album, you'd have to keep using Apple's products to maintain that investment.
Don't get me wrong. I have an iPod. But I refuse to buy from iTMS. I'd rather give the same money to Amazon and get my tracks in plain unencumbered MP3.