Believe It Or Not, iTunes Lives On With “Digital Vinyl”
Until a few days ago I thought that iTunes was no more, replaced by Apple Music. I mean, no one talks or writes about it anymore. The fact of the matter is it’s still around, and although iTunes sales are not exactly going up, sales remain remarkable steady. In short, it’s not going anywhere thanks to the concept of “Digital Vinyl.”
It’s A Concept
Digital vinyl is not a cousin to the vinyl record or even a physical product. It’s a concept.
The idea is that there are people that still want to own the music they listen to, and/or want to directly support an artist they care about.
It turns out that iTunes is a bastion for superfans. Jaime Marconette, vice president of music insights and industry relations at Luminate, told Bloomberg’s Ashley Carman that “US consumers who say they listen to music through their own personal, digital libraries are 44% more likely than the average music listener and music streamer to agree or strongly agree that ‘artist’s opinions matter to me.’” They’re also more likely to listen to new releases as soon as they drop.
They Got It Right The First Time
The original prices of $0.99 for a single and $9.99 where good enough for people when iTunes started back in 2001, and for the most part still work today (although singles are now $1.29). So much so that single digital downloads have pretty much held steady over the last couple of years, even as digital album sales have declined by 14%.
And its users are not just oldsters who still own an iPod. According to an Apple spokesperson, half of iTunes customers began buying songs on the platform in the past 10 years, or since the launch of Apple Music. Almost 50% of the top 10,000 best-selling albums each quarter are new releases, which means that people aren’t just using iTunes to revisit old music from their youth.
In fact, many iTunes users don’t bother with music streaming, as over 80% of its users are not subscribed to Apple Music, according to Bloomberg’s Carman.
It’s a good bet that iTunes won’t be around forever as digital downloads become less profitable over time, but it looks like to will be around for quite a while yet. After all, digital vinyl still makes money for artists and labels, and there seems to be new users that adore the format. Who would have thought?
