Apple (AAPL) iTunes passed 10 billion song downloads yesterday. It is a milestone analysts had been anticipating for the last month. The consumer electronics company celebrated the accomplishment with an odometer on the firm’s home page which said “Thanks A Billion. Times Ten” The iTunes store was opened in the US in April 2003.
iTunes has evolved a great deal in seven years. It now offers download of full-length moves, TV shows, and software applications. But, music has always been its core strength.
The music industry has not always been a fan of iTunes. The store is a huge source of digital revenue for publishers but Apple’s cut of song revenue has been the source of a great deal of friction. Late in 2009, artists and music publishers attacked Apple on the split of money that comes in from downloads. “We make 9.1 cents off a song sale and that means a whole lot of pennies have to add up before it becomes a bunch of money,” said Rick Carnes, president of the Songwriters’ Guild of America in comments reported by CNET.
But, some artists appear to have done remarkably well in the sales of their songs on iTunes with a small number of artists dominating downloads. The all-time hits on iTunes according to Apple: “I Gotta Feeling”, Black Eyed Peas; “Poker Face”, Lady GaGa; “Boom Boom Pow”, Black Eyed Peas; “I’m Yours”, Jason Mraz; “Viva la Vida”, Coldplay; and “Just Dance”, Lady Gaga and Colby.
Ten billion downloads. We would have been disappointed if they had not made it.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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