Apple reveals best-selling iTunes content, iPhone apps of 2009
Apple this week revealed the most critically acclaimed and best selling content of the year in the iTunes Store, the world's most popular online music seller and mobile application destination.
iTunes Rewind 2009 is a feature on the iTunes Store that gives a glimpse into trends for the duration of the year. Content is presented as an editorially chosen "Best of 2009," along with a list of the year's "Top Sellers."
But while Apple numbered individual songs in terms of sales rank for the year, App Store software for the iPhone and iPod touch is not as clearly defined.
Instead, the "Top Sellers" for 2009 in the App Store are divided into two sections: Games and Apps. Featured games among the top sellers are The Sims 3, The Oregon Trail, Madden NFL 10 and Flight Control. Among the top selling apps are MLB.com at Bat, Textfree Unlimited, ColorSplash and The Moron Test. None of the software listed are free downloads.
Most "Best of 2009" apps have earned at least four stars for their customer reviews. They include ReelDirector, I Am T-Pain, SketchBook Mobile and Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals.
For music, the top selling single of 2009 was "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. The iTunes editorial staff chose Michael Jackson as Artist of the Year, and the album "Only by the Night" by Kings of Leon earned Album of the Year.
Some of the year's top-selling movies were "Twilight," "Quantum of Solace," "Star Trek," and "Up." Critically acclaimed were "Drag Me to Hell," "Anvil:! The Story of Anvil" and "Sunshine Cleaning."
Also highlighted in iTunes Rewind 2009 are TV shows, podcasts and audiobooks.
In August, Apple's iTunes was found to be a quarter of all music sales in the U.S. That makes iTunes by far the largest music retailer, ahead of second-place Walmart with 14 percent. In all, digital downloads make up 35 percent of music sales, and iTunes accounts for 69 percent of online sales. But despite iTunes' popularity, CDs still remain the top-selling format, with 65 percent of overall sales.
But as the best of 2009 list implies, iTunes has become about much more than the music, particularly since the iPhone App Store opened in 2008. In November, Apple revealed that more than 100,000 applications are available for download on the App Store, a milestone reached less than a year and a half after the store's debut. And in September, the total number of downloads from the App Store topped 2 billion.
The future of iTunes could be changing even further. After Apple's purchase of music streaming service Lala last week, it has been speculated that iTunes could shift towards the browser with a cloud-based service that could let users access the content they own from anywhere, on any device.
iTunes Rewind 2009 is a feature on the iTunes Store that gives a glimpse into trends for the duration of the year. Content is presented as an editorially chosen "Best of 2009," along with a list of the year's "Top Sellers."
But while Apple numbered individual songs in terms of sales rank for the year, App Store software for the iPhone and iPod touch is not as clearly defined.
Instead, the "Top Sellers" for 2009 in the App Store are divided into two sections: Games and Apps. Featured games among the top sellers are The Sims 3, The Oregon Trail, Madden NFL 10 and Flight Control. Among the top selling apps are MLB.com at Bat, Textfree Unlimited, ColorSplash and The Moron Test. None of the software listed are free downloads.
Most "Best of 2009" apps have earned at least four stars for their customer reviews. They include ReelDirector, I Am T-Pain, SketchBook Mobile and Jamie Oliver's 20 Minute Meals.
For music, the top selling single of 2009 was "Boom Boom Pow" by the Black Eyed Peas. The iTunes editorial staff chose Michael Jackson as Artist of the Year, and the album "Only by the Night" by Kings of Leon earned Album of the Year.
Some of the year's top-selling movies were "Twilight," "Quantum of Solace," "Star Trek," and "Up." Critically acclaimed were "Drag Me to Hell," "Anvil:! The Story of Anvil" and "Sunshine Cleaning."
Also highlighted in iTunes Rewind 2009 are TV shows, podcasts and audiobooks.
In August, Apple's iTunes was found to be a quarter of all music sales in the U.S. That makes iTunes by far the largest music retailer, ahead of second-place Walmart with 14 percent. In all, digital downloads make up 35 percent of music sales, and iTunes accounts for 69 percent of online sales. But despite iTunes' popularity, CDs still remain the top-selling format, with 65 percent of overall sales.
But as the best of 2009 list implies, iTunes has become about much more than the music, particularly since the iPhone App Store opened in 2008. In November, Apple revealed that more than 100,000 applications are available for download on the App Store, a milestone reached less than a year and a half after the store's debut. And in September, the total number of downloads from the App Store topped 2 billion.
The future of iTunes could be changing even further. After Apple's purchase of music streaming service Lala last week, it has been speculated that iTunes could shift towards the browser with a cloud-based service that could let users access the content they own from anywhere, on any device.
Comments
The future of iTunes could be changing even further. After Apple's purchase of music streaming service Lala last week, it has been speculated that iTunes could shift towards the browser with a cloud-based service that could let users access the content they own from anywhere, on any device.
[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]
Good. It only makes sense to be able to use my music purchases as I see fit.
...In other words, will music from iTunes incrementally eat away at the CD 65% year over year or will iTunes gather steam next year and grow exponentially? I'd bet on the latter!
I'd actually bet on the former. I definitely see growth year over year, but I don't see that growth being exponential. Personally, I'm glad to see CDs still garnering 65% of total music sales. My biggest issue is, why should I pay the same (or about the same) as a CD for a lower quality copy from the iTunes (or any other download) store?
I have a feeling the lala purchase is going to tie into .mac somehow
Considering .Mac doesn't exist in the form you refer to anymore....
I have a feeling the lala purchase is going to tie into [MobileMe] somehow
I?ve been contemplating this and it doesn?t look like the best strategy to tie into a paid for subscription service.
Good. It only makes sense to be able to use my music purchases as I see fit.
They music labels agreed awhile back to strip the DRM from iTS music so you use your music where you see fit.
My biggest issue is, why should I pay the same (or about the same) as a CD for a lower quality copy from the iTunes (or any other download) store?
Convenience is a driving force for most industry, not what is the better or best. If that were the case McDonald?s would not be where it is today. The audio is now 256kbps and DRM-free yet iTunes rose to #1 with 128Kbps DRM audio with no liner notes and tied to an iDevice or iTunes app.
I'd actually bet on the former. I definitely see growth year over year, but I don't see that growth being exponential. Personally, I'm glad to see CDs still garnering 65% of total music sales. My biggest issue is, why should I pay the same (or about the same) as a CD for a lower quality copy from the iTunes (or any other download) store?
Understood!
Convenience is a driving force for most industry, not what is the better or best. If that were the case McDonald?s would not be where it is today. The audio is now 256kbps and DRM-free yet iTunes rose to #1 with 128Kbps DRM audio with no liner notes and tied to an iDevice or iTunes app.
True but unfortunate. We (Americans) as a society have gotten too lazy and too accustomed to settling for less. For me, having to wait an extra day or two to get my CD from Amazon is plenty convenient. I don't think there's ever been a situation where I had to have something "right this instant". There are plenty of others things I can do (or watch or listen to) while I'm waiting for my CD's to arrive.
Understood!
I agree, those are the strongest points for buying digital versions. Maybe in another year or two, the iTunes store will upgrade their quality again, perhaps to 320k variable. With ample cheap storage space available, it shouldn't be an issue to accommodate the additional space requirements.
True but unfortunate. We (Americans) as a society have gotten too lazy and too accustomed to settling for less. For me, having to wait an extra day or two to get my CD from Amazon is plenty convenient. I don't think there's ever been a situation where I had to have something "right this instant". There are plenty of others things I can do (or watch or listen to) while I'm waiting for my CD's to arrive.
It?s not an American or even a cultural thing. It?s human nature, perhaps even part of the nature of existence as a whole, but humans are just better at it than other species. It?s a sliding scale always in the pursuit of more, better, faster and easier. Our expectations are changes because technology changes.
Personally, I never used the iTS for music until they made it an option on the iPhone over the carrier. Since then I?ve purchased at least 50 songs, many or which I heard playing, used Shazam to tag and then used the built in button to buy the song. It?s a beautiful thing.
Understood!
What do you have against shippers, plastic makers and for that matter pallet makers? People in this economy, struggling to find employment don't need further competition to the limited jobs out there by adding to their ranks the unemployed shippers, plastic makers and pallet makers.
You want to stop pollution, kill the environmentalist movement! That way, you won't have Copenhagen fiascos where 140 polluting private jets flying around spewing their waste into our atmosphere or the 1,200 un-gas friendly limos carting a bunch of idiots, yes, idiots, spewing data manipulated by faux scientists about "Climate Change Effects". Is there climate change? Always! Does it effect the world? Absolutely! Can man alter Climate Change? About as well as altering tornados, carbon dioxide emitting volcanic eruptions, tsunamis, hurricanes, blizzards, floods, typhoons, you get where I'm going... Nature is going to do, what Nature is going to do and man is impotent to stop her!
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/cop...ar-wedges.html
...It?s a sliding scale always in the pursuit of more, better, faster and easier. Our expectations are changes because technology changes.
Often times those four things don't necessarily agree with each other.
Personally, I never used the iTS for music until they made it an option on the iPhone over the carrier. Since then I?ve purchased at least 50 songs, many or which I heard playing, used Shazam to tag and then used the built in button to buy the song. It?s a beautiful thing.
There's no question it's a beautiful thing. I've tagged numerous songs with Shazam as well. Except with me, I auditioned the rest of the album at home that a given song was on and then decided whether or not to buy the album. If the rest of the album was lame, then I'd buy the individual song from the iTunes store (but this was only after they switched to 256k variable). Oddly enough, I've bought numerous music videos from the iTunes store because God knows you can't watch music videos on MTV anymore.
The future of iTunes could be changing even further. After Apple's purchase of music streaming service Lala last week, it has been speculated that iTunes could shift towards the browser with a cloud-based service that could let users access the content they own from anywhere, on any device.
This is certainly one of the features of Spotify that I love. I can access music from anywhere - at home, at work, at parties, on my iPhone...
Well worth £10 a month.
I have a feeling the lala purchase is going to tie into .mac somehow
I feel that too. So if more see that money making potential for Apple to sell more .Me subscriptions.
JT
http://www.web-anonymity.se.tc