iTunes Music Store - 25 Million Songs

MacRumors · Dec 15, 2003, 10:59 AM

Apple announced that the iTunes Music Store has now sold over 25 million songs since its launch in April 2003.

The 25 millionth song -- which was purchased on Friday afternoon was Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Frank Sinatra.

Apple also released that over $1 million in iTunes online gift certificates and allowances have been purchased since their addition on October 16th, 2003.

kwajo.com · 11:10 AM

yippie!

iMax531 · Dec 15, 2003, 11:03 AM

It also says they're on track for 75 million... which is a few les than the 100 million that Jobs was shooting for... so something's gotta kick into gear soon. Hopefully the Pepsi deal will help. It;s a good start though

bommai · Dec 15, 2003, 11:07 AM

I thought they just crossed the 20 million line. Good to see them go to 25 million. Just keep it up now.

Java · Dec 15, 2003, 11:08 AM

Sounds good to me.

Websnapx2 · Dec 15, 2003, 11:09 AM

I wonder if they are counting the Gift certificates as well in the 25 Million?

Viv · 11:13 AM

Still not slowing down then! I bet the others hate it:-)

Viv
PS so who voted negative? why!

whooleytoo · Dec 15, 2003, 11:11 AM

Quote:

The 25 millionth song -- which was purchased on Friday afternoon was Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Frank Sinatra.

Frank Sinatra bought it? What are the the odds???

yoman · Dec 15, 2003, 11:11 AM

woot

wPod · Dec 15, 2003, 11:12 AM

iTunes ROCKS!!! But I think we already knew this. What about other services? Does anyone know if they have been keeping up, or have been behind as normal?

JW Pepper · Dec 15, 2003, 11:15 AM

Apple must be close to their break even point now. I do not believe that this will be an on-gong non-contributor to revenues. Anything this sucessfull must be able to make a profit.

ryme4reson · Dec 15, 2003, 11:15 AM

Great news, I changed from one click shopping to the shopping cart because I found myself helping out Apple a little to often!

TMay · Dec 15, 2003, 11:18 AM

It would be nice to know what the split between mac and pc buyers, singles and albums, and weekly rate of growth since ITMS opened for windows users.

Whither Napster?

jholzner · Dec 15, 2003, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by ryme4reson
Great news, I changed from one click shopping to the shopping cart because I found myself helping out Apple a little to often!

Haha...I did the exact same thing! Now I review my cart avery week or so and decide if I really want it or not....also help me keep better track of how much I'm actually spending.

Ja Di ksw · Dec 15, 2003, 11:29 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Macrumors

The 25 millionth song -- which was purchased on Friday afternoon was Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Frank Sinatra.

Unbelievable, I think that was me!!!!

(wonders how many people actually thought I was being serious until they read this last sentence, or worse, even after they read this last sentence)

mrsebastian · Dec 15, 2003, 11:49 AM

i know apple has said there's no money in selling music online, but i don't buy it. for sake of argument let's round off the number of songs sold in a year to 100 million. if apple makes a profit of 20 cents per song after all is said and done, that's still quite a bit of revenue! factor in promotions like they're going to have with pepsi and the numbers just get better.

EponymousCow · Dec 15, 2003, 11:55 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by iMax531
It also says they're on track for 75 million... which is a few les than the 100 million that Jobs was shooting for... so something's gotta kick into gear soon. Hopefully the Pepsi deal will help. It;s a good start though

Actually, they are selling at 1.5million/week right now. If that rate continued for a year, they would sell 75million over that year. It won't even get them close to 100 million by April.

However, there are many reasons to believe that the weekly rate will continue to accelerate. For one, the iPod seems to be the hot gift this Christmas, and that locks a lot of people into only being able to use iTMS. The other thing is the Pepsi giveaway. Just getting people to try the service when they win a free song means that they have to download iTunes at least. That makes the barrier to further purchases very low. Apple has said they are not counting the free songs towards their goal, but it would help accelerate new sales.

It wouldn't surprise me to see 100 million songs given away, maybe 50 million will be redeemed by a total of 20 million unique customers (I'm just guessing). If 5 million of those customers buy just one album in addition, that is ~50 million (assume 10 tracks per album) new sales for iTMS, which will make up the gap. Apple will have to make damn sure the store stays up and reliable, though.

EponymousCow · Dec 15, 2003, 12:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mrsebastian
i know apple has said there's no money in selling music online, but i don't buy it. for sake of argument let's round off the number of songs sold in a year to 100 million. if apple makes a profit of 20 cents per song after all is said and done, that's still quite a bit of revenue! factor in promotions like they're going to have with pepsi and the numbers just get better.

Actually, Apple's profit will be at best 10c per song. I think there is money in selling music online, but only if you sell in enormous volumes. That is why Apple is agressively courting the music download buisness. They have a mechanism to make short term profits off of it (selling iPods), while running the music store at a break-even level for a few years. At some point, iPods will become commodities (much like the walkman did), but by then Apple will be selling $1billion a year and reaping a $100 million profit. Then they can sell iPods at low margins to encourage people to download music.

That's my (unprofessional) analysis of Apple's profit strategy off of music.

Bear · Dec 15, 2003, 12:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EponymousCow
Actually, they are selling at 1.5million/week right now. If that rate continued for a year, they would sell 75million over that year. It won't even get them close to 100 million by April.

However, there are many reasons to believe that the weekly rate will continue to accelerate. For one, the iPod seems to be the hot gift this Christmas, and that locks a lot of people into only being able to use iTMS. The other thing is the Pepsi giveaway. Just getting people to try the service when they win a free song means that they have to download iTunes at least. That makes the barrier to further purchases very low. Apple has said they are not counting the free songs towards their goal, but it would help accelerate new sales....

Add to the above the factor of the iTunes Music store being available in other countries. This will also help the purchase rate increase.

jncrow · Dec 15, 2003, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wPod
iTunes ROCKS!!! But I think we already knew this. What about other services? Does anyone know if they have been keeping up, or have been behind as normal?

Think this usatoday.com article is very good for that. USAtoday itunes article

El Dandy · Dec 15, 2003, 12:26 PM

do the math, it's not much money, say for agument's sake this year they make their goal and sell 100,000,000 song. At .20 each of profit, that onle 5,000,000 bucks. For something on this large a scale for it to bring in a maximum of 5 million bucks a year isn't really all that much.

frankly · Dec 15, 2003, 12:26 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by EponymousCow
Apple has said they are not counting the free songs towards their goal, but it would help accelerate new sales.

Apple never said that they weren't counting the Pepsi giveaway songs in their total songs sold count. In fact, they said exactly the opposite. When Steve Jobs laid out their goals of wanting to hit 100 million songs he then said one of the things that will help us reach that goal is... and he talked about the Pepsi giveaway.

The Pepsi giveaway is being given away by PEPSI, not Apple. Pepsi will have to pay Apple for every song that someone redeems. All 100 million songs are not going to be redeemed but I think a decent portion of them will be.

Later, Frank

blogo · Dec 15, 2003, 12:29 PM

Also remember that the service is US-only at the moment.

El Dandy · Dec 15, 2003, 12:30 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by frankly
Apple never said that they weren't counting the Pepsi giveaway songs in their total songs sold count. In fact, they said exactly the opposite. When Steve Jobs laid out their goals of wanting to hit 100 million songs he then said one of the things that will help us reach that goal is... and he talked about the Pepsi giveaway.

The Pepsi giveaway is being given away by PEPSI, not Apple. Pepsi will have to pay Apple for every song that someone redeems. All 100 million songs are not going to be redeemed but I think a decent portion of them will be.

Later, Frank

Alright, alright, we had this argument in the 20 million songs post, let's not start it up again

spencecb · Dec 15, 2003, 12:41 PM

This is refreshing to see Apple the market leader in certain areas for once...starting with the iPod, and now with the iTunes Music Store...way to go, Apple!

Dec 15, 2003, 10:59 AM	#1
MacRumors macrumors bot Join Date: Apr 2001	iTunes Music Store - 25 Million Songs Apple announced that the iTunes Music Store has now sold over 25 million songs since its launch in April 2003. The 25 millionth song -- which was purchased on Friday afternoon was Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! by Frank Sinatra. Apple also released that over $1 million in iTunes online gift certificates and allowances have been purchased since their addition on October 16th, 2003.

Dec 15, 2003, 11:02 AM	#2
kwajo.com macrumors 6502a Join Date: Jul 2002 Location: Bay of Fundy	yippie! __________________ My Time on the Tropical Island of Newfoundland: http://gallery.mac.com/darkharbour/ Last edited by arn : Dec 15, 2003 at 11:10 AM.

Dec 15, 2003, 11:07 AM	#4
bommai macrumors regular Join Date: May 2003 Location: Melbourne, FL	Cool I thought they just crossed the 20 million line. Good to see them go to 25 million. Just keep it up now.

Dec 15, 2003, 11:08 AM	#5
Java macrumors regular Join Date: Jan 2003 Location: Marin County (where else?)	sweet Sounds good to me. __________________ "even the President of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked." -B. Dylan "Propaganda all is phony." -B. Dylan

Dec 15, 2003, 11:10 AM	#7
Viv macrumors regular Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Canada Quebec	Still not slowing down then! I bet the others hate it:-) Viv PS so who voted negative? why! __________________ "Coercion of complex systems, without adequate understanding, often results in unintended and, all too frequently, disastrous consequences." Last edited by Viv : Dec 15, 2003 at 11:13 AM.

Dec 15, 2003, 11:03 AM	#3
iMax531 macrumors member Join Date: Jul 2003 Location: SF Bay Area/JHU	It also says they're on track for 75 million... which is a few les than the 100 million that Jobs was shooting for... so something's gotta kick into gear soon. Hopefully the Pepsi deal will help. It;s a good start though

Dec 15, 2003, 11:09 AM	#6
Websnapx2 macrumors member Join Date: Apr 2003	I wonder if they are counting the Gift certificates as well in the 25 Million?

Dec 15, 2003, 11:11 AM	#9
yoman macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2003 Location: In the Bowels of the Cosmos	yes itunes domination woot __________________ My first computer was an Apple IIGS at the meager age of 6 1/2 years. I was raised with an APPLE and I will die with an APPLE.

Dec 15, 2003, 11:12 AM	#10
wPod macrumors 68000 Join Date: Aug 2003 Location: Denver, CO	iTunes ROCKS!!! But I think we already knew this. What about other services? Does anyone know if they have been keeping up, or have been behind as normal?

Dec 15, 2003, 11:15 AM	#11
JW Pepper macrumors regular Join Date: Jul 2002	Apple must be close to their break even point now. I do not believe that this will be an on-gong non-contributor to revenues. Anything this sucessfull must be able to make a profit. __________________ 355/113 is the best aproximation of π

Dec 15, 2003, 11:15 AM	#12
ryme4reson macrumors 6502 Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Cupertino CA	Great news, I changed from one click shopping to the shopping cart because I found myself helping out Apple a little to often! __________________ 2 Ghz MBP!!!

Dec 15, 2003, 11:18 AM	#13
TMay macrumors 6502 Join Date: Dec 2001 Location: Carson City, NV	Details? It would be nice to know what the split between mac and pc buyers, singles and albums, and weekly rate of growth since ITMS opened for windows users. Whither Napster?

Dec 15, 2003, 11:49 AM	#16
mrsebastian macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: sunny san diego	i know apple has said there's no money in selling music online, but i don't buy it. for sake of argument let's round off the number of songs sold in a year to 100 million. if apple makes a profit of 20 cents per song after all is said and done, that's still quite a bit of revenue! factor in promotions like they're going to have with pepsi and the numbers just get better. __________________ [ding]

Dec 15, 2003, 12:26 PM	#21
El Dandy macrumors newbie Join Date: Oct 2003 Location: NY	do the math, it's not much money, say for agument's sake this year they make their goal and sell 100,000,000 song. At .20 each of profit, that onle 5,000,000 bucks. For something on this large a scale for it to bring in a maximum of 5 million bucks a year isn't really all that much. __________________ notsam.com

Dec 15, 2003, 12:29 PM	#23
blogo macrumors 6502 Join Date: Apr 2002 Location: Norway	Also remember that the service is US-only at the moment.

Dec 15, 2003, 12:41 PM	#25
spencecb macrumors 6502a Join Date: Nov 2003	This is refreshing to see Apple the market leader in certain areas for once...starting with the iPod, and now with the iTunes Music Store...way to go, Apple!

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