AfterDawn: News

iTunes finishes 2007 as second biggest US music retailer

According to data from the NPD Group, after last year's increase in legal online music sales iTunes has become the number two music retailer in the country. During 2007 only Wal-Mart outperformed the online store.

"The continued growth in legal download sites is encouraging, yet the industry struggles to improve the value of each digital customer," said NPD analyst Russ Crupnick in a statement. "With so many baby boomers and gen-Xers entering the market, there are certainly opportunities to sell more digital albums, promote older catalog titles, or create bundles that will raise revenues. In the near term that’s going to be the best means available to narrow the gap on dwindling CD revenues."



Unfortunately the news wasn't as good for labels as it was for Apple. The increase download revenue didn't offset the continuing decline in CD sales. No doubt part of the problem is that downloads are typically sold one or two songs at a time, versus an entire CD. According to NPD, around a million people stopped buying CDs last year.



Written by: Rich Fiscus @ 26 Feb 2008 23:17

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• 8 comments

• PetahG

  "No doubt part of the problem is that downloads are typically sold one or two songs at a time, versus an entire CD."
  well maybe if music artists came of with cds that have 20 good songs not just one out of 20 then maybe ppl would buy the whole cd

  26.2.2008 23:49 #1

• nobrainer

  Originally posted by PetahG: "No doubt part of the problem is that downloads are typically sold one or two songs at a time, versus an entire CD."
  well maybe if music artists came of with cds that have 20 good songs not just one out of 20 then maybe ppl would buy the whole cdsee now you hit the nail on the head, the music sucks because its about profit over talent now and as the article states digital sales are through the roof but falling sales are due to songs being sold individually because albums are filled with crap other than one or two songs, but the rhetoric of the RIAA would have you believe that digital sales were none existent due to rampant piracy, not that the RIAA/IFPI, ect have annoyed consumers by forcing anti consumer tactics on everyone with payola scams denying play time for independent music, DRM, global price fixing by regional credit card payments, just as region coding is used on dvd and blu-ray to fix prices, price fixing between studios, stealing from artists, suing 12 year old kids, lying to the media, constant lobbying of anti consumer bills, the DMCA (need i say more) and the list goes on and on.
  
  Thank you RIAA/MPAA for constantly screwing over the consumer now you reap your karma 10 fold.
  
  links:
  
  RIAA Claims Ownership of All Artist Royalties For Internet Radio
  
  RIAA Wants Songwriter Royalty Lowered
  
  Radiohead: Artists often screwed by digital downloads
  
  
  but what does yelling piracy allow, well......... this is why most ppl that willing to sacrifice more of their liberties by allowing isp's to utilise deep packet inspection to help the fight piracy (insert sarcasm here)! but encrypted p2p traffic cannot be identified by deep packet inspection so WHY?
  
  Well now... governments have the ability to easily obtain data of all you web activity, emails, instant messaging, EVERYTHING, ect, in the name of combating terrorism and you are freely allowing them to get away with this!
  
  what are they upto, click for comedy view?
  
  Control a population by keeping them scared, and the ppl will allow this to happen freely, using paedophiles, piracy and terrorism to spy and monitor every aspect of your lives!
  
  
  MediaDefender Parent Company Facing Liquidation
  
  Originally posted by hyperlink: After suffering humiliation at the hands of a hacker in 2007, the future of anti-piracy company MediaDefender is in serious doubt. Its parent company, ARTISTdirect, has called in a team of specialists to “assist in the exploration of strategic alternatives.” That’ll be alternatives to liquidation, then.
  
  
  
  

  The BPI Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The RIAA Soundexchange Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, EMI.
  
  The IFPI Are: The same anti consumer lot as listed above!
  
  The MPAA Are: SONY, UNIVERSAL, WARNER GROUP, DISNEY, PARAMOUNT, FOX.
  
  How do you stop anti consumer = its easy purchase only second hand media and avoid their propertarian hobbled by DRM hardware! http://www.boycott-riaa.com/

  27.2.2008 04:41 #2

• 21Q

  People still buy music O_o?

  27.2.2008 07:49 #3

• chaos_zzz

  Originally posted by 21Q: People still buy music O_o?lol
  
  i agree with petahG tohught there some artist wich deserve to be paid, osme others expect to sell a whole cd for only one good song

  27.2.2008 12:04 #4

• vinny13

  Lmao I haven't boughten any songs period in like 6 years...

  27.2.2008 12:06 #5

• inagasake

  I read the Radiohead artists often screwed over by digital downloads article. Radiohead claims that they made more money off their In Rainbows album than from every other album they released combined. Anyone who wished to download their DRM-free album from their site had the option of paying the band whatever they wanted (even nothing) for it. About one third of the people who downloaded the album paid nothing and the average payment was £4 ($8 US). They also sold a physical CD and vinyl set of their album as well. That just goes to show how much artists are being screwed over by major record labels when they can make a lot more profit distributing their album themselves on the cheap. Gotta love Radiohead for what they're doing.

  1.3.2008 19:58 #6

• flickchik

  now i'm conflicted. which money-hungry corporate pig do i hate least? having been called an analogue-phile in another forum, i hate itunes for killing my beloved cd. but then again, it's hard not to hate walmart just as much.
  
  i agree whole-heartedly with inagasake about radiohead. it's so great when people stand up to the corporations that are doing their best to kill the music industry. although, i can't help but think that the commercial success of "in rainbows" might be because of the increased publicity due to its less-than-traditional release.

  3.3.2008 11:56 #7

• borhan9

  Still comming second is not that bad in the long run it is still one f the widest used online shps used world wide. They should be proud of that.

  19.4.2008 21:29 #8