Apple reaches download landmark.

Two years after opening, Apple has now sold more than 500m songs through its iTunes download store.

Is this good?

i guess for Apple it is

It's great that someone is finally getting paid for downloaded music (artist/writers/etc.) And it's great to be working on a production, or writing a song , or a mix and reference a whole music store at the push of a trackball.

But it sux that there is little to no concept of a long playing listening experience. No artwork to see or hold, no production credits or linear notes to read. You would think with this new model labels could give two *hits about who worked on the record as long as it sounds good. I guess I'm just old fashion.

does anyone know what a typical breakdown of the 99 cents
amounts to ? ie label gets x artist gets x/28, etc

or an example if there is no one situation that would be called typical ?

thanks

- jack

Will this new 'conduit' of music & commerce have a trickle down effect to benefit us studio owners or self recording musicians?

I heard at the Tape-Op conference that it's a lot more pathetic than I had been hoping for.

90 for apple and label , 1 for the manager , 1 for the lawyer, 1/8 for the artist ? : )

I've read that Apple gets about 35 cents a download...

I've also read that many artists don't get anything because of the deal they signed...

Someone should just google search this and find out!

http://www.futureofmusic.org/itunes2.cfm

http://birdhouse.org/blog/archives/2...s_music_st.php

i have a newfound respect for apple. i might even go out and buy an ipod

apple offers the same deal to the largest labels and the smallest labels, which is very nice.

it's somewhere around 60/40 - label/apple

what happens to the label money at that point is up to the label.

my own deal with my digital distributor is quite good. he takes 10%. i end up getting about 58 cents per song.

I believe the group I play in gets about the same breakdown. It seems cool to me. Kinda brings back the idea of singles. Also, I get to hear a snippit of just about any record before I go out and buy it. Works for me.
ERic

most artists will have a "new media" clause in their record agreements, I kno mine with warner music says that I only get 50% of my normal rate for "new media" formats. Mp3 will be a "new media format"

Apple being the retailer I guess would get retail markup (prob 30 % final price) the rest been split between record company and a small (7%) goes to publishing.

The record campany then pays the artist in the normal way. Usually about 17% of whole sale, but in my case 50% of that for new media. But before the artist gets ANY of this they have to recoup, which virtually no one does.

So (99c a song) * (70 percent whole sale) * (17% artist royalties) * (50% new media) minus recoupment = two tenths of f*ck all. And you can quote me on that.

I think itunes has missed the point. The internet has givin artists a great oportunity to deal directly to their fans and cut out the middle man (the record companies, the bain of the music industry, funny thing is they think they are the music industry) all itunes has done is kept the old system going. Can't wait to see the where the industry heads. Downlaoding and piracy (this is myself as a popular artist speaking, not so much as a studio owner), the more people that listen to my album the more people come to my shows, the more $$$$$. f*ck selling albums, all they do is feed the old system.

I got asked to go on a nationwide tv commercial a while back for anti piracy (when you burn cd's your burn us the artists) , what a load of bollox, I refused.

We as a very small indie label get 50% of the 99 cents. And then we usually share with our artists 50%. But I don´t know about the major deals...

Regards,
Bill

I'd say yes, simply because it gives a good, universally known place for us to sell music worldwide... and it is relatively easy to get records placed in iTunes, even if the artist is without record label.

Cheers,
Charles

How are - 'go download our stuff it's up on Itunes" - marketing strategy's developing?

Are artist's radio ads now saying - "available on Itunes.com" ???

I know a lot of people bemoan the fact that iTunes is killing the 'album; long playing' concept. I think it could lead to interesting things. I think it's just a stage in an ongoing evolution.

Remember back before bands put LP's out how there was a lot of great music being released on 7"?

A LOT!!

Is it good? well Jules, good question, cause that's a **** load of songs. The future is upon us.

500mil in 2 yrs, that's 250 a yr
250 divided by and average of 15 song per album
is aboutttt 166mil albums per yr..... if we maybe add in the "same song download factor"
166mil divided by half is about 83 mil albums per yr

all from one site.

mp3s Wonder how many were ITB or OTB mixes