digital music/video
12/11/2006, 6:45pm, EST
Monday, December 11th
Forrester: iTunes sales plummeting
Apple's iTunes Music Store has experienced plummeting sales revenues this year, according to Forrester Research. Although Apple refuses to disclose the revenues generated from its online multimedia storefront, an analysis of credit card transactions conducted by the firm over a 27-month period suggests that iTunes monthly revenues have fallen 65 percent since January. Nielsen Soundscan points to even worse news for digital music vendors, citing three consecutive quarters of flat or declining revenues for the entire sector, according to a report from The Register. Apple reported a 'blowout' quarter during its September conference call driven by notebook sales, and reported 'above-break-even' profits for iTunes Music Store revenues.
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Other story tags: digital music/video
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i mean call me stupid but i rather have the cd, that is guaranteed to last longer then a cdr and have the ability to rip as i please without restrictions.
Are there many copy protected CDs these days?
However, how does this drop compare to music sales overall?
"Unlike some applications that limit the number of CDs you can burn, iTunes lets you burn as many custom CDs as you like. And iTunes prints pro-quality inserts to accompany your mix."
I do wish Apple would bump the quality to at least 192 bps AAC. I've found this to work well for my own CDs (i.e. I did some blind tests and when I ripped at 128 AAC I could tell the difference on many tracks but at 192 almost all were indisguishable, at least to my ears.)
That said, I've been buying less and less. I wish iTunes would set up a wishlist, I'd probbaly buy more. And I wish they'd actually respond to customers like me who continually ask them to carry full albums and get more artists than they currently have. But I understand.
So I just rely on XM and 'net radio like KCRW to keep me with the freshest music out there, because I tire quickly of my purchased tunes.
Further-you should back your music collection just-the-same using the rule of threes. To optical disk, external drive, then back it all up again and keep it off-site. It's the price you have to pay for a "digital" lifestyle.