Neowin.net - iTunes EU sells 800,000 songs in first week

iTunes EU sells 800,000 songs in first week

Posted by Mr magoo on 23 June 2004 - 12:37 · 21 comments & 1256 views

The recently launched iTunes music store in Europe (by which we mean GB, FR, DE) claims to have sold 800,000 songs in its first week; a take of about £632,000 for Apple so far. Arguably not a bad figure, and one that bodes well for the store’s future. If we were to compare it to the US figure of just over a million songs sold in the first week, in terms of population sizes proportionally the EU store has in fact done better (EU : 200m US : ~ 300m). For further comparison, from Jan to May in the UK, total online music sales were .5 million.

Although the store does seem to be another commercial success for Apple, it is still having problems. For example, the store has not yet completed deals with independent associations in Europe, a move that which will be critical to it's long term survival. Groups such as Basement Jaxx, a very popular group on a independent label are still not on iTunes. It's also important to note here that Apple needs this more than the labels need Apple. They've been able to sell successfully through traditional distribution methods (i.e. High Streets) and it would only make sense to them to deal with Apple only when they are offered an attractive deal.

Apple's venture into the music business has proved very successful, both in the EU and US. Indeed, investors do seem to be coming back to Apple. However, they are no longer seem to be investing because of its computers; rather, because of it's music. The company must ensure that they don't get to distracted from the success in this area and neglect their traditional market.

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#1 Posted by Hills420 on 23 Jun 2004 - 12:50: How much is each song in the EU?

#2 Posted by pctuk on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:03: In the UK it's £0.79 per song or usually £7.99 per album. Not sure about Germany and France.

#3 Posted by CDog on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:10: That's really cool, I'm happy for Apple. Now that you're rolling around in money, please please please make your iPod cheaper...

#4 Posted by mihir on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:19: The prices here are 79p for one song and £7.99 for an album usually as said, and the EU store is €9.99 for an album and €0.99 for one track.

The selection on the iTunes music store is really poor compared to the USA.

#5 Posted by dakomo on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:24: well new music seems to be added every tuesday and so far i've brought the darkness ep and a few zero 7 songs and got to say i'm impressed so i probably wouldnt of found them on the high street ie. virgin hmv etc...

#6 Posted by danbalsh on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:30: I bought 60 of them

(1 reply) #7 Posted by Evil2000 on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:36: I'd buy something, but I don't have a credit card :/

(4 replies) #8 Posted by plasticparadox on 23 Jun 2004 - 13:51

QUOTE

If we were to compare it to the US figure of just over a million songs sold in the first week, in terms of population sizes proportionally the EU store has in fact done better (EU : 200m US : ~ 300m).

OK, except for the fact that when the US store debuted, it was available for the Mac only. The EU store has been available for Mac & PC since it launched.

The EU iTMS should be doing much better.

#8.1 Posted by dp123 on 23 Jun 2004 - 18:00: Umm, they are set to match what OD2, the biggest European success thus far, did for the first time in a couple of years in one quarter in less than 10 days... And OD2 is distributing through many storefronts. To act as if iTMS Europe should exceed the now well-established US version (which has always had a better selection and more press) is overreaching.

#8.2 Posted by plasticparadox on 24 Jun 2004 - 02:25

QUOTE (#8.1)

To act as if iTMS Europe should exceed the now well-established US version

I don't think you understood my post completely. Let me re-explain.

The numbers comparison given in the story was between the US and EU iTMS's first weeks.

The EU store sold 800,000 tracks in the first 7 days, while the US store sold 1,000,000 tracks in it's first 7 days. If you divide those figures with the approx. populations for each region, (US: 300 million, EU: 200 million), here's what you get:

US: 0.003 tracks per user
EU: 0.004 tracks per user

EU wins, right? Wrong. US Let's look at the Apple market share data for 4th quarter 2003, which is near to when iTMS launched in the US. Mac's share in the US was about 3%. Let's redo those numbers. 3% of the US population is 9 million. Therefore,

US: 0.111 tracks per user, or 1 in 9.
EU; 0.004 tracks per user, or 1 in 250.

#8.3 Posted by dp123 on 24 Jun 2004 - 16:52: And my point is: that's simply a bad attempt at analogizing. Trying to slice this up by marketshare is pointless. You can't claim that 100% of the PC market are now in the iTunes market simply because there is a Windows version.

And you can't presume that Apple's goals are the same for Europe... It is a different market with different metrics. Apple could have certain expectations for its US Mac users that it couldn't anywhere else or at any other time or with any other market. The advertising was commensurate with this perception. Also, the US store was already bigger than each of the 3 smaller European stores. Apple knows this (Europe) market is actually much more tepid and underdeveloped thus far... They know this simply by looking at existing stores numbers. They also know Europeans do not frequently use or own credit cards, etc...

Also, you could look at Apple's sales when it was opened to Windows users. You are way overestimating their impact on their sales. They sold 1.5 million in a week. Not a huge upsurge, certainly not an increase of 97%... not by a long shot. So you can't claim that 97% of the iTunes pruchasers are Windows users. Nor can you claim that you are only selling 1 track to every 250 users. See: the initial opening had a huge "wow" factor and a huge spike... opening the store to new markets or new users don't have the same corresponding spike... a spike, yes, but not the same corresponding spike as when it was truly novel.

I think it is very easy to say that, with experience, less advertising, market penetration and several other factors, the opening in Europe was in fact bigger than the US release based on what could be expected and what was invested in it.

Last edited by 9953 on 24 Jun 2004 - 17:06

#8.4 Posted by plasticparadox on 25 Jun 2004 - 04:07: I am simply using what data is available to me to make my assumptions. I don't by any stretch of the imagination believe these figures to be accurate, but I do believe they are in the general ballpark.

The difference in numbers, regardless if they are not spot-on accurate, is too great to say that the EU iTMS was more of a success than the US iTMS. Yes, they beat out the other services. But they should have at least matched how the US store did given the fact that European users have been watching the US store, and have had the opportunity to browse the US iTMS for quite some time.

My 0.02.

#9 Posted by dangel777 on 23 Jun 2004 - 14:23: Yay, get your DRM here drones.. conform conform the RIAA loves you and protects your children..

(2 replies) #10 Posted by DjTeriyake on 23 Jun 2004 - 15:38

QUOTE

They've been able to sell successfully through traditional distribution methods (i.e. High Streets)

What does that mean? Googling didn't tell me that "High Streets" is a label, but maybe I'm wrong. Or does this refer to a method of low cost distribution? Like selling tapes out of your trunk here in the U.S.?

#10.1 Posted by saralk on 23 Jun 2004 - 17:44

selling through the high streets means selling in physical shops, like HMV, Virgin Megastores, Music Zone etc...

also, there is a grammer mistake

QUOTE

a very popular group on a independent label

should be an not a

#10.2 Posted by DrZoidberg on 23 Jun 2004 - 21:20: And in your post (saralk) it should be "grammar", not "grammer"...

#11 Posted by chacho on 23 Jun 2004 - 16:25: had they opened this up a while ago, they might have made their goal of 100M songs in a year or whatever it was...

(2 replies) #12 Posted by wulfshayde on 23 Jun 2004 - 21:15: I have 1 thing to say to people who have wasted countless amounts of money on itunes. www.allofmp3.com it's like, at the most $2USD for a large albumn and it can encode in the format needed for the iPOD as well as MP3 OGG, and other popular formats. just check it out, you'll see what I'm talking about, its much cheaper than itunes, and you aren't limited to where you are allowed to play it, and which devices you can transfer it to. iTunes sucks, imho.

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