iTunes Windows Sells 1 Million Songs in 3.5 days

[reyesmac]

Apple better start buying new and faster servers before February. If they are to download around 100 million songs in a two month period they better have the hardware to do it without much slowdown on the network. I notice that after the Windows launch of the iTMS that my connection to it has slowed down noticeably. There is a wait for almost everything where as before it connected very fast.
Not complaining, just something I noticed. They will be downloading songs in the millions per week once Pepsi actually starts advertising the iTMS. Something Apple should have been doing from the beginning.

 

[j33pd0g]

Great news for Apple. Now what's going on with the stuff about iTunes for windows not working for everybody? Is that because sub-standard pc parts are to blame? I work at a newspaper and am trying to get them to run a positve article about Apples ITMS... but instead they'll run some article doubting Apple and the ITMS... I'll have to switch articles on them at the last minute.

 

[kainjow]

This whole iTunes for Windows thing has got me pumped up to the extreme. Last night (Sunday), I went on to the store and bought about 4-5 albums. I couldn't stop! It was amazing. yea I've used iTMS before, but somehow I just got extra excited, especially with the new iPod accessories - Apple's going to make it HUGE with the iTunes AND the iPod. Hopefully more PC users will see the light of day and recognize the Mac and it's far superiority.

 

[mathematician]

Until April

If Apple wants to have sold 100 M songs til end of April, they have to continue at a constant rate of 3,3 M songs per week (from now on).

Sould be possible, but it is still not clear if it will increase to 3,3 M.

Math:

100 M til April
-
14 M aleady sold
-----
86 M to go
/
26 weeks til April
------
3.3 M

 

[jettredmont]

Originally posted by Lancetx
You're not including the 100 Million songs that will be given out starting in February thru the Pepsi promo.

In my view, Steve wasn't really clear in saying those "counted" towards the 100MM sold goal. My interpretation (which may be wrong) was that those giveaways didn't count directly towards the goal (it is not likely at all that Apple will make a profit off those; Apple only gets $.30/song revenue as it is (and Steve specifically said that the labels like this promotion because they're getting paid; I doubt this is a Record Label Charity Event), and I don't think Pepsi's footing the full bill there). However, it is expected that most users will get one free song and purchase one or two more once they try it out.

Also, remember that the majority of users who get the winning caps won't redeem them, for various reasons. Those include:

1) They didn't look at their cap to begin with (throw-aways).

2) They don't understand what to do with it.

3) They don't have a broadband connection to get iTMS with (and, really, if this is their first encounter with iTMS, a dialup user is not likely to take the 20MB download AND suffer through iTMS navigation over dialup).

4) They just plain don't want the music, or they think there is some catch somewhere, like Apple taking all their personal information and selling it to the highest bidder (especially since it is a Well Known Fact that Apple is perpetually no more than six months of going bankrupt and selling all its assets anyways!)

5) They don't have a computer.

6) They have a computer but are afraid of it, especially afraid of installing new software.

7) They are already avid users of the iTMS, in which case they'll use their one free song, but it might be countered by a loss of a paid sale.

 

[arn]

Originally posted by jettredmont
In my view, Steve wasn't really clear in saying those "counted" towards the 100MM sold goal. My interpretation (which may be wrong)

I thought it was clear that the giveaway counted. He said something to the effect of ... "What if we still can't reach our goal of 100 mill... well, we are also going to be giving away 100 million songs with pepsi etc..."

arn

 

[NatronB]

iTunes, etc....

This is great news, and it speaks volumes as to how Apple has gotten into the mainstream. When my friends refer to "Hey Mama" as the iPod song, Apple's doin a good job. When I walk to work and see a dozen pairs of white earbuds, Apple's doin a good job. How many different types of MP3 players can the average person name? None, except the iPod. I understand that I'm preaching to the converted, but using music as the trojan horse to get Apple hardware (and now, software) into the hands of the masses is genius.

-N

 

[Edot]

Originally posted by jettredmont


Also, remember that the majority of users who get the winning caps won't redeem them, for various reasons. Those include:

1) They didn't look at their cap to begin with (throw-aways).

Send your throwaways to me!

 

[coolfactor]

Reporters were given $20

I'm not sure how many of you thought of this, but each reporter at the announcement was given $20 to "try out" the iTMS. There were alot of reporters there. That would be a big chunk of this 1,000,000.

 

[LimeLite]

I wonder if we're going to see a larger number of people digging through trash cans, trying to find unclaimed caps!





Actually, just gave myself an idea....

 

[LimeLite]

Ok...here's a question that maybe people didn't think of...

With the gift certificates, you buy them in increments of $10. So what happens to the pennies? You're pretty much always going to have pennies in your account if you get gift certificates. Even getting $100 worth is going to leave you with 1 penny. (I'm going by individual songs here, not albums.)

Just a weird sort of observation.

 

[marcsiry]

Originally posted by LimeLite

With the gift certificates, you buy them in increments of $10. So what happens to the pennies?

They will be diverted into Richard Pryor's iTMS account, and he'll have millions of dollars worth of music overnight.

(That was essentially the plot of Superman 3 )

 

[tmornini]

Originally posted by jettredmont
1) They didn't look at their cap to begin with (throw-aways).

2) They don't understand what to do with it.

3) They don't have a broadband connection to get iTMS with (and, really, if this is their first encounter with iTMS, a dialup user is not likely to take the 20MB download AND suffer through iTMS navigation over dialup).

4) They just plain don't want the music, or they think there is some catch somewhere, like Apple taking all their personal information and selling it to the highest bidder (especially since it is a Well Known Fact that Apple is perpetually no more than six months of going bankrupt and selling all its assets anyways!)

5) They don't have a computer.

6) They have a computer but are afraid of it, especially afraid of installing new software.

7) They are already avid users of the iTMS, in which case they'll use their one free song, but it might be countered by a loss of a paid sale.

Mostly exactly correct.

But let's not forget millions of AOL members getting CDs with iTunes that work with the AOL(iTunes) Music Store!

 

[greenstork]

Originally posted by Flowbee
And they're finding out it *is* that easy!

BTW - That's what people were saying when iTMS for Mac first launched. "Sure, they sold a lot of songs the first week, but that's just people curious about how the music store works. Sales will take a nosedive after the novelty wears off."

I don't consider dropping from 1 million songs the first week of iTMS on a Mac to 600,000 songs a nosedive. I would say it's more like leveling out.

However, I'd venture to guess that the less rumor savvy Windows users (in general) still don't even know about iTunes. As more folks here about it word of mouth, I would expect downloads to increase from current levels. Although, in the interim, I would expect sales to decline slightly from these levels.

 

[LimeLite]

Originally posted by marcsiry
They will be diverted into Richard Pryor's iTMS account, and he'll have millions of dollars worth of music overnight.

(That was essentially the plot of Superman 3 )

Haha, that must be what happens.

 

[sethypoo]

Possibly.....

Originally posted by Digipimp
I think a more interesting point is that many of those downloads where by mac users because I don't feel like most Windows users have any idea that iTunes is available for them yet, so this is just scratching the surface really and those downloads are mainly mac owners that own pc's as well.

Possibly, but just how many Mac users who own a PC actually use it frequently enough to download a million songs in three and a half days? This million downloads has to be largely due to windows downloads.

My 10 cents.

 

[Flowbee]

Originally posted by greenstork
I don't consider dropping from 1 million songs the first week of iTMS on a Mac to 600,000 songs a nosedive. I would say it's more like leveling out.

I was suggesting that the people who originally predicted iTMS would nosedive after the first week were wrong. Too subtle, perhaps.

 

[jvaska]

****ing right on! go apple!! i hate m$!!!!

 

[Jerry Spoon]

I think this is great given that in my opinion, the windows ITMS has gotten limited press compared to what it will get over the next few weeks/months with magazine articles etc. coming out on it. With what looks like approx. 2/3 of these million songs sold going out to Windows users, I think the % will only increase from now through the end of the year with the # of songs increasing as well.

I'm excited for Apple!

 

[jer2665]

Originally posted by marcsiry
They will be diverted into Richard Pryor's iTMS account, and he'll have millions of dollars worth of music overnight.

(That was essentially the plot of Superman 3 )

I'd guess they're going into michael boltons and samir's bank account (a la Office Space) A much better movie

 

[orb]

I wonder what the terms of the pepsi promotion. Some people seem to be assuming pepsi is footing the bill for the music. I would have assumed that Apple will be footing the bill for the music and that Pepsi is responsible for all the promotion and other expenses.

That would seem the most natural way to structure it, but knowing how Steve Jobs negotiates, I'm sure he got a much better deal than that. It will be interesting to see...

 

[ryanmil1]

One thing I think people are failing to think about is the momentum the store should pick up amongst windows users. I'm a long time mac user who bought a PC for college because I need to run engineering analysis but needless to say, I follow mac rumors closely. In my hall of 800 people (most of whom have PC's) there is hardly anyone that even knows what the hell ITunes is. Once promotions start and more people start downloading Itunes it will really take off. Just wait until the pepsi promotion and the integration with AOL start and you will see downloads to pick up quickly. Most PC users don't regularly check apple.com to see if there are new downloads so this really is a matter of knowledge rather than want. The itunes music store has the potential to be huge and I think that apple is doing a lot of the right things to make it big. (although I still think they need to license fair play to anyone who wants it...they seriously could be come THE way many people get their music)

 

[LimeLite]

Originally posted by orb
I wonder what the terms of the pepsi promotion. Some people seem to be assuming pepsi is footing the bill for the music. I would have assumed that Apple will be footing the bill for the music and that Pepsi is responsible for all the promotion and other expenses.

That would seem the most natural way to structure it, but knowing how Steve Jobs negotiates, I'm sure he got a much better deal than that. It will be interesting to see...

My guess was that Pepsi would pay the portion of the .99 that doesn't go to Apple, and Apple just doesn't get paid for it. That way, while Apple won't be *making* any money, they won't have to pay out of pocket either, other than the operational costs. Plus, free publicity from Pepsi's ads.

 

[AndrewMT]

Originally posted by reyesmac
Apple better start buying new and faster servers before February. If they are to download around 100 million songs in a two month period they better have the hardware to do it without much slowdown on the network. I notice that after the Windows launch of the iTMS that my connection to it has slowed down noticeably. There is a wait for almost everything where as before it connected very fast.
Not complaining, just something I noticed. They will be downloading songs in the millions per week once Pepsi actually starts advertising the iTMS. Something Apple should have been doing from the beginning.

I've never had to wait for anything myself. So far the iTunes for Windows has provided nothing but robust performance and speed (espcecially speed!!!) for me.

 

[ant_s]

Unlucky, Microsoft...

Unfortunately for Microsoft, there IS a market for iTunes for Windows. It is the first decent-sounding MP3 player available, and once the iTMS is activated world-wide, there will be no stopping Apple lead this market.


Edit: May I also add it's the only one that doesn't totally take over your PC, again, just like all Apple stuff - it lets you get on with your work: no adverts, no pop-up windows, just one solid, fantastic integrated system. And don't we all think that's how it should be these days? Of course.


Good one, Apple!