Euro iTunes downloads hit 800,000

[MacBytes]

Category: News and Press Releases
Link: Euro iTunes downloads hit 800,000
Posted on MacBytes.com

Approved by Mudbug

[macridah]

that's what I'm talking about. I'm sure mycokemusic, napster, or whatever service in europe never had a week like iTunes had in their first week.

very nice.

[Bear]

So much for the worry that iTunes had to play catch up in the UK and Europe.

I wonder what'll it be like when the rest of the countries in Europe can buy from iTMS?

[irmongoose]

This makes all the other stores look pathetic. And it also shows how big iTunes has become. Surpassing the closest competitor by so much... it's simply amazing. If Apple listens to the Europeans and gets those indie artists into the store, it's just going to keep on soaring.


irmongoose

[Some_Big_Spoon]

iTunes is such a success that the only logical conclusion is.. the raise prices to $5.99 a download!!

woo hoo!!

[Fender2112]

Wow, Talk about opening up a can of whipass.

[sushi]

Originally Posted by MacBytes

Category: News and Press Releases
Link: Euro iTunes downloads hit 800,000
Posted on MacBytes.com

Approved by Mudbug

Fantastic news!

Glad to see iTMS continuing to expand.

Sushi

[Fiveos22]

Does anyone have the numbers for how this opening week compares to the ITMS mac debut week and the ITMS windows debut week?

This seems like its a bit on the low side...but maybe I'm just jaded.

[Maxicek]

Hopefully the success will persuade the indie labels to sign up.

[Steamboatwillie]

Yes! Wow! Holy Shmegdeggly!

[Grimace]

The labels that didn't want to sign on initially better listen to this news. This proves that legal downloads ARE good business. Now, Apple needs to get iTunes fully globalized.

[Sayer]

The Indies refused Apple's terms, it wasn't really Apple's "fault" that they didn't sign. Both parties simply did not reach an agreement.

It is, quite frankly, Apple's game and thus Apple's rules.

If its all about the music to the Indies, then why are they even trying to get into the iTMS?

In reality they could substantially increase their market reach via the iTMS and totally bypass the expense and complexities of distribution via CD.

Apple (Jobs) *wants* the Indies, but the terms are Apple's to set because it is their store and they must maintain a balance between making it viable and offering content that as many people as possible want to buy.

The Indies will come around, or get pushed out of the way by those who are willing to play Apple's game. Thats how the market economy works.

[jared_kipe]

Did we sell 700,000 in one year over here in the states?

[Raiden]

This dispells some of the uneasiness feelings I have had since sony connect and napster and whatnot entered the scene. I have been worried they would overtake itunes, but with this news, obviously itunes is the best!

[azdude]

Originally Posted by jared_kipe

Did we sell 700,000 in one year over here in the states?

Try 70,000,000

[eazyway]

Originally Posted by Fiveos22

Does anyone have the numbers for how this opening week compares to the ITMS mac debut week and the ITMS windows debut week?

This seems like its a bit on the low side...but maybe I'm just jaded.

ITMS music stores hit 1 million in the first week. May 2003. Nov 6 2003 iTMS sold 1,5 M songs in a week, (after the windows release)

So the 800K compares very well. It takes time for everone to know it there and to get set up etc.

[jholzner]

Originally Posted by jared_kipe

Did we sell 700,000 in one year over here in the states?

Nope...we sold 75,000,000 in the state in one year. But it's a much larger market.

[svenas1]

Originally Posted by Fiveos22

Does anyone have the numbers for how this opening week compares to the ITMS mac debut week and the ITMS windows debut week?

This seems like its a bit on the low side...but maybe I'm just jaded.

It was over a million songs in the US (http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2003...usicstore.html) after the initial introduction. The Windows version was launched in October, and in the first week of November, Apple sold 1.5m songs. Good thing Apple keeps up its /pr sites..!

So, this is not as big as in 03, but I gather there are more Macs running OSX in the US than there are in GB/F/D together (maybe now you can dig out those figures ;-) )

Neat,
Sven

EDIT: woah, three people posting the numbers within 10 minutes...
we sure know our numbers... ;-)

[JFreak]

Originally Posted by Bear

I wonder what'll it be like when the rest of the countries in Europe can buy from iTMS?

right. no reason to talk about itms europe just yet - the euro store will be opened in october. for now, it is itms UK&france&germany and while the three make about 35% of european population, THEY ARE NOT EUROPE. or even the eu.

stop talking about itms europe being operative, because it isn't.

[AmigoMac]

Nice to be part of this success ...

[nagromme]

Wow--this IS big. Comparisons to the US launches aside, Apple was late to Europe AND STILL beats competitors by so much.

Imagine if/when those important indies are there. That lack was supposed to hurt UK sales--and I'm sure it did... that's why they "only" sold 450k there

And FYI, it's the indies being greedy--they want the option to raise iTunes prices after 6-12 months if their music sells well. OD2 and Napster gave them that in their contract, but Apple wants to keep pricing steady and won't even let the BIG labels do that. Thus, no deal--and the bad press about Apple being the greedy ones (which makes no sense with their business model anyway) was simply false speculation:

http://macobserver.com/article/2004/06/16.1.shtml

I'm sure the indies will come around soon now! How much money did they lose in one week?

Also, note the phrase "over 700,000 songs in each country". At first, people were saying that Apple had 700,000 songs TOTAL for all three, but only about 300,000 each. Now we know that's NOT the case, even if the catalog took hours (why?) to become fully available.

[markoibook]

This is great news - a very positive response from the UK.

But apple needs to make a bigger impact in the UK. Lots of people over here are unfamiliar with Apple's products and services.

They need to do advertise more about the music store. Granted the new iPod ad has been on quite a bit - but why not advertise the music store too?

It would also be nice to see Apple team up with newspapers and magazines to give away a free track, and to also Apple support music programmes on TV. For example, what about iTunes sponsoring some music events, or TV programs???

More advertising would certainly blow the competition out of the water!!!

[mklos]

Originally Posted by Fiveos22

Does anyone have the numbers for how this opening week compares to the ITMS mac debut week and the ITMS windows debut week?

This seems like its a bit on the low side...but maybe I'm just jaded.

Apple sold over 1 Million songs in its first week of operation, but remember that the US has over 280 Million people. France, Germany, and the UK don't even that many combined. Add that to the fact that some of the major tracks over there aren't on the ITMS yet. So 800,000 songs in the first week is very good. I think just like the US ITMS, people will see how easy it is and they will begin to like it so they will starting using it more and more so that 800,000 number will probably go up in the weeks to come.

[djdarlek]

Originally Posted by jholzner

Nope...we sold 75,000,000 in the state in one year. But it's a much larger market.

hmmm, so 75 million tunes sold to US market in a year.
UK purchases total roughly 1/2 million in a week. Estimated at 26 Million songs a year.

So is the UK is 2.8x smaller that the US???????? I'm sure my math is wrong
somewhere along the line, but can someone please see my point? the UK is FAR smaller than the US.. how can these figures be right?

[DGFan]

Originally Posted by djdarlek

hmmm, so 75 million tunes sold to US market in a year.
UK purchases total roughly 1/2 million in a week. Estimated at 26 Million songs a year.

So is the UK is 2.8x smaller that the US???????? I'm sure my math is wrong
somewhere along the line, but can someone please see my point? the UK is FAR smaller than the US.. how can these figures be right?

Because the 75 million US included a time when iTMS was only available on Macs. IIRC they are now at a rate that exceeds 75 million per year.