ONE IN FOUR SONGS IN U.S. BOUGHT ON iTUNES

Switched [online magazine] ^ | Wednesday, August 19, 2009 | Caleb Johnson

[Star Traveler]

ONE IN FOUR SONGS IN U.S. BOUGHT ON ITUNES
By Caleb Johnson
Aug 19th 2009 at 1:30 PM

Although digital music sales continue to rise, CDs still account for the market majority in the U.S. When it comes to the burgeoning online world, though, iTunes stands alone.

Macworld writes that a recent report released by NPD Musicwatch showed that 25-percent of the songs purchased in the United States during the first months of 2009 came from the iTunes store. That makes iTunes the most popular music retailer in the country, beating out former champ Wal-Mart, which boasts 14-percent. (That figure, though, includes Wally World's sales from its retail stores, Web site and download store.) iTunes's market share is up from 21-percent in 2008 and 14-percent in 2007. Not only has Apple seen a steady climb in overall sales, but it's also trouncing direct competition -- owning 69-percent of the digital market. In second place is Amazon, which claims about 8-percent of MP3 purchases.

With iTunes' ease of use and the continued push towards the digitalization of music, it comes as no surprise that Apple is dominating. Yet, the continued reliance on CDs, 65-percent of all music sold in this country, is interesting and suggests Americans still need an actual product. Digital music takes a larger share out of sales every year -- 20-percent in 2007, 30-percent in 2008, 35-percent in 2009 -- but in the era of file-sharing, Internet radio, and iTunes, we wouldn't have guessed that CDs still hold this much ground.

[Star Traveler]

One thing to note now about the iTunes Music Store is that Apple has finally gotten the music companies to drop their insistence for DRM (Digital Rights Management) and also the Apple iTunes Music Store puts the music out in high quality 256 kbps AAC format.

[Star Traveler]

Some information about Apple iTunes Music Store...

[GSWarrior]

As I type this, I am downloading a CD from Amazon.

[Star Traveler]

The article said ...

---

Macworld writes that a recent report released by NPD Musicwatch showed that 25-percent of the songs purchased in the United States during the first months of 2009 came from the iTunes store. That makes iTunes the most popular music retailer in the country, beating out former champ Wal-Mart, which boasts 14-percent.

---

I remember when Apple announced that the Apple iTunes Music Store became the Number 1 music retailer in the country, bypassing Walmart... :-)

[Star Traveler]

You said — As I type this, I am downloading a CD from Amazon.

—

I see..., you’re in that 8% category... eh?

---

In second place is Amazon, which claims about 8-percent of MP3 purchases.

---

Let me ask you this... what is the bit rate for the MP3 files over at Amazon?

[Star Traveler]

Also, for people who may want to know...

Advanced Audio Coding...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advanced_Audio_Coding

The Apple iTunes Music Store has their music in 256 kbps AAC format. Some people say that they can’t tell it from the full CD-quality uncompressed format. I know some audiophiles say they can, but I can’t... :-)

Also, take a look at a Microsoft employee who dumped his Zune... LOL...

Letters from Microsoft: An Employee Tosses His Zune
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/2319063/posts

[GSWarrior]

I don’t know.

[Spktyr]

It’s usually ~256kbps VBR MP3 over at Lamerzon Music. :P

It’s not bad, but Apple’s AAC tracks sound much better (256kbps AAC > 320kbps MP3)

[Star Traveler]

Okay, I had to go and look it up...

---

Bit Rate: Where possible, we encode our MP3 files using variable bit rates for maximum audio quality and smaller file sizes, aiming at an average of 256 kilobits per second (kbps). Using a variable bit rate allows us to allocate a higher bit rate to the more complex sections of music files while using a smaller bit rate for the less complex sections. The average of these rates is then calculated to produce an average bit rate for the entire file that represents the overall sound quality. Some of our content is encoded using a constant bit rate of 256 kbps. This content will have the same excellent audio quality at a slightly larger file size.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=200154210

---

Here’s something in a comparison of ... “MP3 vs AAC vs FLAC vs CD”

—

Quote: “So the best formats to use are the lossless ones, in case you were wondering, but if space is an issue, then use 320 Kbps AAC. MP3 comes from the MPEG-1 codec and AAC comes from the MPEG-4 codec, so the takeaway lesson is avoid MP3 if possible, even 320 Kbps MP3. It simply doesn’t compare.”

[ http://manufacturedenvironments.com/2008/06/mp3_vs_aac_vs_flac_vs_cd/ ]

—

MP3 plays on iPod, AAC plays on iPod, but FLAC doesn’t play on iPod. However, you can use Apple “lossless” if you want, but that would be overkill, I would think, on a portable device... :-)

[Star Traveler]

You said — It’s not bad, but Apple’s AAC tracks sound much better (256kbps AAC > 320kbps MP3)

—

Exactly .... AAC is the superior format...

[Fester Chugabrew]

My first digital downloads track-by-track were through MSN music. Later on hooked up with an iPod shuffle, then hooked up with iTunes. Digital library is now by weighed heavily with iTunes; pretty much my exclusive source for new material. The interface and convenience is terrific.

Now owner of a small record label (brass, jazz, blues) - have content available through both MSN music and iTunes. One or two tunes have played on VH1 programming, the royalties amounting to enough to purchase several large pizzas and an 0bama Joker Poster or fifty.

This is a great time to be alive when it comes to recorded music, considering the history, skills, and variations.

[Star Traveler]

You said — This is a great time to be alive when it comes to recorded music, considering the history, skills, and variations.

—

Yes it is and Apple iTunes and the iPod has been a great “game changer” in bringing about some of that change and advancement. I’m sure glad that Apple had a major part in something to do about that and not Microsoft... :-)

Thanks to the development that Apple did with QuickTime, as that’s an important component of all of this, along with their push to get AAC accepted as a viable and open standard (as opposed to what Microsoft wanted to do).

[spectre]

This is a great time to be alive when it comes to recorded music, considering the history, skills, and variations.

I was just "gifted" an IPod Classic and it has over 1400 songs on it. I plug in and zip thru my house work happy as a clam. What a great invention :)

sw

[max americana]

and the other 3 songs have been downloaded via Frostwire?

[Star Traveler]

You said — and the other 3 songs have been downloaded via Frostwire?

—

Well, of course, that would be Apple iTunes being the largest *legal retailer* in the U.S. — not the largest *pirate outfit* in the U.S. ... LOL...

Frostwire...
http://www.frostwire.com/

Gotta say one thing for Apple and their iTunes Music Store... probably no one else could have turned things around for the music industry and made “online music” legal — like Apple did..., instead of *all online music* being pirated... LOL...

[SamAdams76]

Well what's good about the iPod is that you can collect cover versions of well-known songs. For example, I have 17 cover versions of "Don't You Forget About Me" (Original artist: Simple Minds) and 11 cover versions of "Under The Milky Way" (Original artist: The Church).

Some of these cover versions I picked up on iTunes but many others on eMusic. Also, if you surf around, you can pick up tons of free cover music by up-and-coming indie bands who have not signed to major labels yet (and likely never will). Many of these cover songs are quite good.

Another good source for discovering good cover music is the Podcast "Coverville" by Brian Ibbott.

I have a cover playlist of 1,722 songs.