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Over the past few years, we have watched Apple climb the music sales chart courtesy of the iTunes. Last month we learned that Apple passed Best Buy to become the number two retailer in the the US in December. Now, Apple has ascended to the top of the charts, surpassing Wal-Mart for the first time ever, according to an NPD MusicWatch Survey for the month January contained in an internal Apple e-mail which was leaked to Ars Technica but has not been officially published.
The news was announced in an e-mail sent this afternoon to some Apple employees, a copy of which was seen by Ars Technica. It includes a screenshot of an Excel file showing the top ten music retailers in the US for January 2008, and Apple is at the top of the list. The iTunes Store leads the pack with 19 percent, Wal-Mart (which includes the brick-and-mortar stores as well as its online properties) is second with 15 percent, and Best Buy is third with 13 percent. Amazon is a distant fourth at 6 percent, trailed by the likes of Borders, Circuit City, and Barnes & Noble. Rhapsody is in the tenth slot with 1 percent.
The fact that a digital-only retailer has ascended to the top of the sales charts is not unexpected, but it does demonstrate just how much the music landscape has changed since the beginning of the decade.
Start thinking about memorial services for the CD.
More like a memorial for AllOfMp3 / MP3Sparks.com
Was able to dwindle my account to near zero $.
I can no longer add $.
Thank you RIAA for screwing up my #1 source of legit music, royalty paid for, digital download.
A dollar per song is completely ridiculous in 2008.
See I told ya’.
Unfortunately, it’s reports like these that will continue the RIAA’s justification for DRM. If iTunes is the largest music retailer in the US, and its patrons are willing to put up with it, why change things?
I’m not suggesting boycotting iTunes in the least, but I think it’s time that music companies stop requiring DRM on iTunes Store purchases. Especially if Amazon is not held to the same requirement (and they’re #4 on the list).
There goes the music experience from old:
First Cover Art became ridiculously small (from vynil to CD), then nonexistent (digital download). Then musical fidelity: from analog to 44 khz samples with harsh clipping, then to lossy 128K streams, compressed into almost uniform volume level.
Sound is delivered into tiny earbuds instead of the solid wood big loudspeakers we had at home…
Music is no more…
I can’t remember the last time I bought a CD. I have never bought anything on iTunes (I won’t allow it on my boxes). I bittorrent what little music I want.
I feel responsible for this jump in iTunes sales.
I much prefer CD’s over MP3’s. First off, they’re mine, and I can encode them on my MP3 players as much as I want. Second, the sound quality of MP3’s suck, plain and simple.
When I got an IPod, I also got $50 worth of I-Tunes. That was a year ago, and I still have $29 credit to use. The only purchases I’ve made on I-Tunes is music that is exclusive to I-Tunes, which turns out to be not that much.
“Start thinking about memorial services for the Music Industry.”
Fixed
I buy CDs then rip them at the quality I want. No DRM crap. I have never bought from iLunes & see no compelling reason to do so.
I dare anyone to find a difference in 192KPS MP3 versus another source, including the original CD.
Not to be confused with the all-too-common LOUSY Mp3 players out there, that have such a limited CPU as to not render the sound in the same quality as it was recorded.
I proved this to a friend. Took the same MP3, played on my laptop, output with stereo jack to his sound system. Sounded awesome playing from Windows Media Player 11. No tweaking.
Then he put into his iPod, used the same stereo jack, listened to the same song, same volume. Sounded rather lousy in comparison.
DVD players I’ve tried render Mp3 beautifully from cd-rom.
Proof that music buyers are morons. They have a choice between DRM-free, high bit rate MP3s from Amazon, and DRM-riddled, low bit rate AACs from iTunes, and they go with iTunes.
I smell a keynote coming
#11
It all comes down to the path of least resistance. I agree with you 100% but for different reason I think. The one thing Apple did right was fairly easy integration of their songs to their players via Itunes. It is a fairly easy transition download the song it is automatically added to you library…Connect the iPod it is automatically added to your iPod.
I realize Amazon will do the same thing with their tools but to most people:
APPLE iTunes + APPLE iPod = brainless interaction.
Me, myself, I am still a CD guy, ripping MP3s at 192kb. What can I say I like the ability to have and hold something. I like the Physical Nature of a CD (heck I still buy vinyl on occasion!)
#12
+1 to you!
P.S. as for the bit rate, I down sample all my music into 98KPS because higher then that I don’t hear any difference in any of my speakers. I’m no audiophile, but it works for me, and I get to save space on my hard drive.
As for the DRM crap, until someone makes a music store that is all slick and integrated like iTunes, but without the DRM then I guess we’ll just write mp3 cd’s and bring it back as to release it from the code. And if I like some music, I am not going to back-stab them and steal their music. I believe in supporting those who create, and not just steal from them to fill my own greed.
What the world needs is lossless music, but for now, I’ll go with eMusic. Excellent service, and it’s a plus that they don’t carry that much mainstream stuff.
I guess the rest of the world haven’t got real high-speed connections yet. I’m lucky enough to have a 100Mbit connection, and I hope the rest of the world gets that too, so that the infrastructure is there to allow bigger files being available for purchase.
P.P.S. if Apple gets too big in the music industry, would they have to split into another company? Buying stocks right now sound very interesting
Also sorry for adding thoughts one message at a time. They are coming to me while I am reading other articles.
Hello, my name is becagle and I’m a iTunes-a-holic. I’m not proud of it, but it wasn’t my fault. I was lured to iTunes, by those damn iPod commercials. All those pretty colors. Forgive me, I’m sorry…
Yeah, but just look at that chart! OTHER is stomping ’em both, with 28% of the market!
I’m buying stock in OTHER as soon as possible!
I wonder how illegal music swapping would rate on this chart. Any idea?
Well, I’m impressed with my peers hanging out at the DU water cooler. No one’s raised the sort of rationale – actually taken seriously at some of the fanboy/antifanboy websites – about WalMart regaining 1st in the Feb report. Some of y’all actually know more about business than the average geek.
The direct analogy being last year’s forth-and-back position swaps between Toyota and GM on a world scale. Do you think Toyota worried about GM innovating and marketing in some new, bright fashion – and locking #1 back up?
Know anyone who thinks some magic change in WalMart style will give them a continuing and expanding advantage over Apple?
Hmm… Amazon is at 6%? Well it is less than a year old.
Idiots, still not DRM-free. Oh well, guess someone has to support Jobs’ lifestyle.
So Apple’s #1, can’t say I’m surprised. As my Uncle used to always point out, septics tanks are a great model of the real world, because it’s always the really big chunks that float to the top.
And the RIAA will use that stats of declining CD sales as proof that music thieves are robbing them blind. That fact that their customers have moved to non-CD format doesn’t factor in.
I also buy CDs, rip them, and keep the CDs. The quality is much better, no degrading DRM, and I have those CDs as more-or-less permanent backups (and they don’t take up much space either).
The downloads I’ve made from iTunes have been underwhelming, fidelitywise.
Uh, #2 – that 6% is the sum of Amazon’s music sales – CD’s. downloads, all. They’ve been at it longer than Apple.
I’m sure torrent downloads DWARF ALL OTHER SOURCES !!! And if plotted on the same scale, would cause the other “spikes” to disappear !!!
It barely matters what we do, this will be decided by kids and their lousy taste in everything.
#24, pedro:
Err, have you seen Apple’s sales figures lately?