Apple’s Online Music Store Sells 25 Million Downloads
Apple Computer Inc. said Monday that its iTunes Music Store has sold 25 million songs in less than eight months, solidifying its position as the early leader in the fast-growing market for downloadable music.
The results were encouraging to some in the music industry, which is trying to persuade music fans to abandon free downloading from file-sharing networks in favor of legal, fee-based services like Apple’s.
But others noted that 25 million songs sold at 99 cents or less won’t save any jobs in a slumping industry where CD sales are expected to drop an additional 9% this year.
Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said the music industry was just beginning to make the transition to online distribution, and “no one can really predict the curve of that transition.”
But the Apple store is now selling about 1.5 million downloadable songs per week, compared with about 500,000 per week in September, putting the Cupertino, Calif.-based company on a pace to sell 75 million songs a year.
A large part of that increase stems from Apple’s move in October to open the iTunes Music Store to people using computers running Microsoft Corp.’s Windows software. The original version of the store was accessible only to people with Apple Macintosh computers.
“So far, we’re the only bright light they have right now in terms of legal online downloading as an alternative to illegal online downloading,” Jobs said. “We’ve gone from zero to 75 million legally sold and downloaded per year in eight months since we launched at the end of April. That’s not bad.
“I think if we can continue to grow, it’s going to be quite material to the music industry at some point in time. They see the trend, they see the trajectory and they like it very, very much,” he added.
Ted Cohen, senior vice president of digital development and distribution at EMI Music, said Apple’s results were very encouraging.
“If you look back a year ago at this time, there was no significant commercial market for downloads,” Cohen said. “This shows that with good marketing and a good consumer experience, you can have a successful business and compete with free.”
Apple’s store is the most heavily promoted online music service, but the company is likely to face much stiffer competition soon. Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the largest CD retailer in the U.S., is expected to launch a preliminary version of its downloadable music store this week, and online shopping giant Amazon.com, Microsoft’s MSN and other powerhouse brands are expected to join the field next year.
