Interesting news/reviews/deals from the portable audio market
Remember “Vingle”? We found out about Apple’s trademark on the term three months ago and wondered whether it was the code name for an uber-leet product or something. Turns out it’s just a buzzword for “video single”. Ah well. For what it’s worth, vingles are sold at the iTMS for $249.
Don’t forget to read our end note: iTunes ringtones project (?): canned: according to The Register, Apple was about to unveil a software project in the coming MacWorld Expo next month that would allow consumers to download ringtones from the iTunes Music Stores and even remix them before sending them to their cellphones via BlueTooth. [...]
Music stores brand awareness is an iTunes & Napster game: “American downloaders aged 12 and older are nearly equally as likely to be aware of Napster 2.0 and iTunes on a top-of-mind basis (31% vs. 27%, respectively); when prompted with actual brand names, more than four out of five (79%) of downloaders recognize the Napster [...]
From Apple’s annual report with the Securities and Exchange Commission:
22.5M iPods sold—up 409% from 4.4M units in 2004; more than 30M units in total have been sold since the iPod was introduced
iPod net sales $3.2Bn—up 248% from last year
net sales from other music-related products/services (iPod accessories/iTunes Music stores) up $261M (223%) from last year
You may be experiencing difficulties when trying to purchase an album from the iTMS—you’re not alone, and according to Apple it should be fixed by next Monday, November 28th.
From the “apologies-for-the-barrage-of-iTunes-related-news-today” department: Why do the record companies insist on variable song pricing? It touches a sensitive subject which got back into the spotlight after EMI’s claims yesterday. Joel Spolsky gives an interesting spin to this story: it’s not just because the labels want more money.
Here’s the dream world for the EMI Group, Sony/BMG, [...]
iTMS owns UK market too: besides Japan, that is. With 54% marketshare, it leads the pack by far. Napster follows with 10%; Wippit with 8%.
Variable song pricing on the iTMS coming? According to the WSJ: Alain Levy, EMI CEO, has discussed the issue of variable song pricing on the iTMS with Steve Jobs and he’s feeling rather optimistic about it: “We are having discussions which make us believe it will happen in the next 12 months”. If this happens, [...]
iPod & iTMS both no.1 in Japan: with the iPod’s market share reaching almost 60%. [via]
Newsweek’s added to the list of those who (rightfully) criticize Apple for not making tracks purchased from the iTMS compatible with MP3 players whose name doesn’t start with “i” and end with “Pod”.
Steven Levy, Newsweek’s editor and a friend of Jobs, says: “Jobs’s explanation is that it’s not something users are asking for, and if [...]