toggle

AAPL Stock: 439.66 ( 0 )

http://www.macnn.com/articles/04/04/13/itms.ignored.18.25.group/

iTunes Music store not a catch-all

updated 08:15 am EDT, Tue April 13, 2004

 

iTMS ignored 18-25 group


In an article that analyzes the ever-changing media industry and the influences that a younger, more savvy generation is having on age-old stalwarts, Apple VP of applications Eddie Cue tells The Financial Times that in launching the iTunes Music Store, that media companies often cherish. "We thought the 18-25 age group was a lost cause because they've been downloading [music] for free for years. The under-10 crew and the over-25 crew is where we're aimed." While Apple has sold over 50 million tracks since the music store's inception, Apple does not disclose demographic information about those customers.


by MacNN Staff

Post tools:

TAGS :

 Apple

Related Articles

Recent Articles

toggle

Comments

  1. koolkid1976

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: May 2003

    0
    04/13, 08:45am | report spam | Reply |

    How exactly

    Does one use a music store to ignore 18-25 year old people?

  1. g4zilla

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2000

    0
    04/13, 08:57am | report spam | Reply |

    Simple...

    Never wait on them. ;)

  1. denim

    Mac Elite

    Joined: Jun 2000

    0
    04/13, 08:58am | report spam | Reply |

    Re: How exactly

    By not putting in tracks that those people would care about, one can ignore an age group.

  1. Elektrix

    Dedicated MacNNer

    Joined: Sep 2001

    0
    04/13, 09:42am | report spam | Reply |

    Not me....

    I'm 24 and I clearly fit into the 18-25 age bracket, and I have become a big fan of the iTMS...... I've bought a couple dozen individual tracks, as well as a few exclusive EP's from Frank Black and Ben Folds. I love it, and even if Apple says they are ignoring me because of the demographic I fit into, I don't think it holds true. I'll admit that I used to download music from time to time, but ever since the launch of the iTMS I haven't been back to them. Frankly, I still also buy physical CD's, but I find the iTMS to be a great replacement for what I used to use the illegal download services for..... that is to say, when there was just an individual song, usually a popular one, that I liked enough that I wanted a copy of, but certainly not enough to buy an album from them. But iTMS is clearly superior to any of those experiences, and I love that I can just find the song, download it immediately and be listening to it. Using services like kazaa was always more stress than it was worth, and I'd often find myself having to download multiple copies of a file until I found one that was good, wasn't garbled, etc. 99 cents a song is more than worth it to not have to put up with that headache. And yes, it also spurred me on to finally buy an iPod.

  1. z10n

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Oct 2003

    0
    04/13, 09:48am | report spam | Reply |

    Yea, right.

    The message is clear: "we don't think 18-25 will care because they've already downloaded everything for free prior to legal online stores."

    What a bunch of bullcrap. Just because it's POSSIBLE to do something illegally doesn't mean everyone out there is doing it. I get sick and tired of the argument that everyone who downloads a p2p program is a sticking, lying thief.

    I'm 26, and have I pirated every MP3 under the sun? No. I admit, during the Napster craze I downloaded quite a bit of songs. The reason I pirated was mostly the same reason why everyone else was doing it: we were sick and tired of paying $20 for a CD that only had 2 good songs on it. There were other reasons of course. It was fun to download stuff. There's a kind of instant gratification factor of being able to find exactly the song you want and have it on your computer in a few minutes. And also, obviously there's the "free" factor (collage kids are poor). But now that I'm out of collage and making some money, I have less and less an excuse to rip off music, especially since songs are only a buck each. I can afford to pay for a song here and there if I think it's a good song and worth the money.

    iTMS has another advantage the p2p networks don't have: music discovery. I've discovered more good songs and more good bands on iTMS then I ever knew existed. p2p doesn't have song previews, it doesn't have artwork, and it doesn't have interactive information about the artist. So more often then naught, I find myself turning to iTunes to get my music.

    I think 25 year olds are probably MORE likely to download legal songs, because we can actually afford to pay for them, whereas a 10 year old is less likely to be able to. Also, tech-savy people are younger and younger now. My guess is young kids think it's "cool" to bounce around using p2p then to do anything legal- they are at that rebellious age.

  1. riverfreak

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    04/13, 10:03am | report spam | Reply |

    morons

    Wow! So you are in the age range specified and you use the iTunes Music Store? And you're a Mac fan reading MacNN? You are so UNIQUE! No, you are exemplary of ALL 18-25 year olds. Statistics no longer taught in school, eh? You ignore a target market by creating advertising that's tested in focus groups for appeal. Does it work all the time? No. Does it work for everyone in the age group? No. Is every company emplying similar tactics? Yes.

    This is a wise move in my mind. The 18-25 year olds of this country are apathetic and wouldn't be able to get their head around the moral and legal issues of P2P. The entitlement generation taken to absurd levels.

    Settle down, gentle MacNN readers between 18-25. Surely, you are *unique*, you are *different*, you are unlike anyone else in the world. No one else shares your name, your taste in music or clothing. U R U. People care what you think.

  1. riverfreak

    Mac Enthusiast

    Joined: Aug 2001

    0
    04/13, 10:09am | report spam | Reply |

    what a stoopid article

    They mention that there are 900 million tracks available on P2P. Are those unique? Probably 500 million are J Lo or Ja Rule or some other c*** like that. And how many of them are full of encoding artefacts, incomplete, not tagged correctly?

  1. Dalhectar

    Junior Member

    Joined: Jan 2002

    0
    04/13, 10:40am | report spam | Reply |

    Makes sense to me

    18-25 year olds are the ones who are most attached to the p2p crowd, which has a clear price advantage over iTMS. It also includes college students, many of whom don't have the disposable income to buy an iPod (which is the point of iTMS anyway). While that group is probably the most likely to have broadband access, it seems a waste to buy songs that can be downloaded for free. TO some degree the boradband access acts as a double edged sword. While it makes the iTMS experience better, it also makes the p2p experience better as well. I think Apple made a smart decision.

  1. Marook

    Forum Regular

    Joined: May 1999

    0
    04/13, 01:07pm | report spam | Reply |

    I do it..

    I have to admit, I still download via P2P.
    Why?
    I want to have a listen to the trackes before I buy them. Why the record-companies don't get this, is beyond me! It's the (to date) best, cheeperst advertisement channel they have, and they tri to shut it down!
    I don't buy via iTMS - it's not available in Europe/Denmark!
    And, I'm 32 years old...

  1. Kenneth

    Addicted to MacNN

    Joined: Mar 1999

    0
    04/14, 02:32am | report spam | Reply |

    not really

    24 here.. full-time college student.. shopping at iTMS..
    I am happy with it.

Show More Comments

Login Here

Not a member of the MacNN forums? Register now for free.

 
close
Photo
toggle

Network Headlines

toggle

Most Popular

MacNN Sponsor

Recent Reviews

MaxUpgrades MaxConnect for 2006-2008 Mac Pro

Nobody outside of Cupertino's privileged bunch knows the future of the Mac Pro line for sure. Despite Apple's reluctance to tell us wh ...

Brother HL-3170CDW LED Printer

We've mentioned before that we are far from a paperless society. For now, at least, there are tasks that require a piece of paper for ...

HTC One

It is hard to overstate just how critically important the HTC One is to the Taiwanese company’s fortunes. Despite its alarming decline ...

toggle

Most Commented

 

Popular News