iTunes solidifying grip on music business

Research firm Ipsos has released a new study on the digital music industry, the results of which position Apple as the leader. Some 82 percent of American music downloaders are familiar with iTunes, versus a next-best figure of 76 percent for Napster. Some 38 percent of downloaders think of iTunes first when it comes to digital music, and while most major online outlets have had their name recognition increase during 2007, only iTunes showed a substantial growth in use past the first 30 days, up to 24 percent last year from 18 percent in 2006. Services such as Rhapsody and Walmart.com saw their 30-day-plus use decrease.

The number of people who view iTunes as the best music service increased from 41 to 50 percent, giving it overwhelming dominance, as Napster remained in second place despite miniscule popularity of just 10 percent.

Of note is that the social networking site MySpace, which has featured free music streaming and downloads for some time, has seen its popularity decline despite an increasing number of people being aware of its existence. The company recently announced the beginnings of MySpace Music, a site which will put tracks from Warner, Universal and Sony BMG up for commercial sale.

Filed under: iPod, Apple, industry
Other story tags: iTunes, music, Wal-Mart, MySpace, Rhapsody, Napster