The iTunes Takeover

Within the last five years, we have witnessed the establishment of purchasing or pirating our entertainment off the internet. The business that this has had the most liberal and lasting effect is the Music Business. The sales of CD's are down, even though internet music sales are up. Connect, napster, even to a certain extent, Rhapsody are making headway in music sales. Yahoo has recently re-structured their music section to allow payable downloads. But, no one has made the in-roads to music superstore as much as iTunes has.

The arguement can be made that the iPod has made it possible for iTunes to have this stranglehold on the industry. The iPod is the monster that rules MP3 players, all others are also-rans. The iPod has become a fashion accessory, pop culture icon, and anything else you want to label to it. But it's not the iPod that has made iTunes a major player, even though it has helped tremendously. While Rhapsody, Connect, napster and all the others have a massive library, nothing comes close to iTunes. And there lies the secret. No, it's not the price - it's the library and the subtleties that accompany it.

iTunes has street mixes. iTunes allows you to burn and convert their tracks to MP3. iTunes fixes your encoding. iTunes has a collection of live albums, exclusives, and mixes from both celebrities and professionals. It has audiobooks, and lets other programs incorporate them in the download process. The stronghold is happening at a rapid rate. And what is remarkable about it is that it is barely noticed.

The music industry, as it stands, has made an issue of the amount of money iTunes charges per download. This is a major mistake but one that the music industry has to make. The prevailing attitude is if you can take down the big dog, everyone else will follow suit. Too bad it's not going to happen.

Here's the deal in a nutshell. Artists are not losing money if they look out the box at their contracts. Their money deals with "sales" or "product" sold. Where the music industry is afraid that distribution, as it has stood for the last 50 or more years, has become obsolete. Who needs a physical product and the hassle that comes along with it (going to a store, sales tax, jewel cases, etc) when you can shop from home, when you want, and have your music almost instantaneously? Especially in this day and age, instant gratification is and will always be the more preferred route.

The winds of change has occurred. The movie industry and video game industries are next. And believe me, they know it. Then comes the television industry.

Welcome to the future.