Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, Napster, eMusic, iTunes, Rhapsody, Zune Marketplace, Yahoo! Music

Jupiter Research has done some prognosticatin' and come to the conclusion that digital sales are going to keep on growing. In fact, if predictions hold true, digital sales will grow at a compounded rate of 16% per year, to a total of 2.5 billion dollars, or just over 22% of total US consumer spending on music.

Glenn Coolfer astutely observes, "Before you do any math, read a blog post about the survey by Jupiter analyst David Card. He explains something the press release does not: Jupiter did not count ringtone sales as digital revenues. He wrote, "Digital music sales will total 22 percent of US consumer music spending in 2011, and ring tones another 12 percent." Combined with download spending, the adjusted digital figure is actually 34%. That leaves the CD with about 66% of the market."

Subscription services are forecast to keep growing as well, with a staggering 32% compounded growth rate in just that category alone. Napster must be salivating but, frankly I don't see it. Unless some major shift comes along and changes the subscription landscape, or the Major labels relent to an eMusic style model, I just don't see how 32% growth in subscriptions is remotely possible.

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Filed under: News, iTunes, Apple

Yep, it's official. At 9:40am Pacific, Apple's Steve Jobs announced the iPhone, and the newest Apple gadget gave it's tiny little polyphonic birth cry.

Details are still sketchy but, here's what our feet on the street at TUAW have to say in their live blogging of Jobs keynote. No word yet whether the iPhone really does encompass features of the iPod, but one can only hope.

• "These phones all have keyboards that are there whether you need them or not. And they have buttons and controls that can't change if you want to add an idea to the product six months down the road." i.e. Touchscreen, kiddies.
• Most advanced phones are called "Smart Phones" but they're not so smart, and not so easy to use. We leapfrog with a product that is way smarter and way easier to use with a revolutionary UI with years of research and development behind it. (David adds: "Man! Ryan of Engadget really hit this right on the head.")
• Multi-touch technology "works like magic". (Laurie notes: "I have a draw full of styluses.") It ignores unintended touches, multi-finger gestures and has patents. Or something like that. I think I jumbled things there a little bit. It is built on top of revolutionary interface with software that calls current mobile phones "baby software" and then mocks them. Yes, the iPhone runs OS X, children!!! W00t!

Update: There is at least initial confirmation that the iPhone does double as a music player.. plus it's got a host of really keen features.

Update 2: Music and more. Coverflow flipbooks, tight iTunes integration, stereo headphones with tiny microphone, 4GB will be $499, 8GB $599. You'll have to wait until June so, put that credit card away.

Update 3: Here's a flickr stream of the whole thing. Like Buttah!

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Filed under: General, iTunes, Apple

Ever wonder what goes on inside your iPod? If you're like most of us, you simply listen and browse, taking for granted all of thehard work going on deep inside your pocket-sized boredom destroyer.


These guys would like to remind you that it's not all fun and games in there. Cranking out tunes and keeping things organized is tough work.

Warning: This video contains not-so-safe-for-work language.. but is overall pretty harmless. Enjoy!

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Filed under: News, RIAA, iTunes

When you spend 99 cents at iTunes, just how much of that buck finds its way to the record label? The short answer is; we don't know for sure. It's long been rumored that the average wholesale price for a digital download is somewhere around 70 cents. We've even used those numbers in our own articles but, to date, no one (aside from the distributors and the labels) knows for sure.

The case of UMG vs. Marie Lindor may change that, at least slightly. The RIAA is refusing to turn over documents conforming the wholesale price of digital downloads unless the defendant's counsel agrees to adhere to a hefty confidentiality agreement which precludes the release of information about pricing and volume of digital sales. In a letter filed with the court, Ms. Lindor's attorney Ray Beckerman writes, "Plaintiffs' would like the well known fact[s] [...] to be confidential. There is no legal basis for such a request. The sole reason they are making the request is to serve their strategic objectives for other cases, a reason which is not a proper basis for a confidentiality order. "

The Lindor case has been particularly media friendly, with Beckerman posting constant updates to his blog. It makes me wonder, just how many of these battles are playing out in similar ways to less exposure in courtrooms across the country?

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Filed under: General, iTunes, Apple

Get it while it's hot. iTunes is offering a free download of John Hodgman's audiobook, "The Areas of My Expertise" until Christmas. You may recognize Hodgman as the "PC Guy" from Apple's recent round of commercials, or from his appearances on The Daily Show.

The book is described as, "a brilliant and hilarious compendium of handy reference tables, fascinating trivia, and sage wisdom on all topics large and small... a different kind of handy desk reference, one in which all of the historical oddities and amazing true facts are sifted through the singular, illuminating imagination of John Hodgman, which is the nice way of saying: He made it all up."

Hodgman is one of those writer/performers who just dripps funny from every single pore on his body. If you can make it through five minutes of Hodgman's book without laughing, you should really make an appointment and have yourself checked out.

[via iLounge]

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Filed under: News, Apple, iTunes

Just in time for Holiday travel, EA has released two new titles for 5th gen iPods to keep your fingers and brain occupied while the miles fly by beneath you.

iLounge's Jeremy Horwitz writes, "Based on the internationally successful Japanese grid number matching game, Sudoku is a 25.1MB download. Royal Solitaire features "10 of the most popular and well-known versions of Solitaire," including Canfield, Klondike, Peaks, Pyramid, Beleaguered Castle, Aces Up, Yukon, FreeCell, Golf, and Scorpion. A 45.6MB download, it promises to allow you to track your own statistics, and those from "other players around the world.""
Ok, so it's not Halo II but for entertainment that doesn't require you to carry yet another device around in your pocket, it'll do. Available now in the US and UK iTunes store but, for whatever strange reason not in Canada; where's the Sudoku love for the great white north?

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Filed under: News, iTunes, Apple

One of the biggest gripes about iTunes is the grey definition of "buying" a song. Sure, you paid your 99 cents and now you're be-bopping down the street to the latest from Chingy but, did you really "buy" that tune? In the strictest definition, no. You don't have the ability to resell the song if you tire of listening to it after a few weeks, you'll never be able to recoup even a portion of your 99 cent "investment".

PeerFlix wants to change that, according to PC Magazine. In an interview with PC Magazine, Peerflix's Billy McNair says, "Whether down the road Peerflix ends up trading MP3s, digital ringtones, digital movies or other files, I don't know," McNair said. "These are gray areas today, from a legality point of view. But there are very few successful products that have been prohibited from selling in a secondary market. The next phase is a digital world: how do we create that secondary market? What do I do when I've bought an album on iTunes, and I'm done with it? How do I resell that song?""

In my humble opinion, something needs to be done about the transferability of digital tracks. The record companies and music distributors have absolutely zero incentive to create a second tier market but, there is no legal basis for the current situation where no secondary market exists. Fixing that will take either a depp pocketed company interested in capitalizing on a secondary market, or unlikely government intervention to force its creation.

[via PC Magazine]

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Filed under: News, iTunes, Apple

Remember that Forrester research report this week which said iTunes was tanking its sales numbers compared to previous figures. What a difference a day makes. This quote sums up why following news about iTunes and research analysts can easily give a person whiplash...

"[W]hile Forrester claimed that iTunes sales were leveling off at roughly 20 songs per iPod, [...] ComScore's research showed that in the first three quarters of the year, revenue on iTunes soared by 84%. In addition, the number of transactions jumped 67%, and the amount spent per transaction was up 10%."

Soared? 84%? That hardly seems like the doom and gloom we heard so much about. It all goes to show that, when it comes to Apple, it's never really true till you see it in black and white, right there in the annual report.

[via TechWeb]

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Filed under: News, RIAA, IFPI, BPI, eMusic, iTunes

It's the democratization of the music business, and it's becoming a trend to large to ignore. The LA Times reports on artists who've given up (or never wanted) a major label deal, and are instead finding success online.

"It's nice to have the deep pockets and clout of a major record company. [...] Nonetheless, the Web is turning into a viable alternative with which bands can develop a following and earn some money while still pursuing fame and fortune. Such popular groups as Britain's Arctic Monkeys used the Web extensively before getting a break. Indeed, music companies are embracing the Internet as a convenient way to scout new talent."

What's more, artists with online followings have a whole lot more negotiation clout when they do sit-down to discuss a deal. Making it in music is hard, and the internet hasn't changed that. What it has done, is serve to create a much more even (although still rather slanted) playing field in which the indie artist has a real fighting chance, something they definitely didn't have just 15 years ago. With music blogs playing the part that radio stations once did (and no sign of radio recovering from its glut of self serving poppycock), could we really be that far from taking the major label system and turning it on its ear?

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