This past week Apple Computer announced they sold 3.3 million songs through iTunes. While some will argue that this number was boosted by a temporary increase in traffic due to the release of iTunes 4.5, I believe that the legitimate online music world is in the midst of explosive growth. Just think about it, with 3 million songs sold through Apple and RealNetworks Rhapsody service having roughly 500,000 subscribers paying around $9.95 per month the online music market is not made up of only geeky leading edge users anymore... this market is crossing into the main stream.
Given their recent actions, the major music labels may agree with me on this point. With their attempts to raise song prices, bundle songs, etc... the labels are making a last ditch effort to tip the economics of the industry further in their favor before too many users get used to buying songs at 99 cents. The labels don't want consumers to get used to buying single songs at 99 cents because they will have a very hard time making money in this model... so expect them to continue to pressure iTunes and RealNetworks to raise prices for both subscriptions and song singles.
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