June 15th, 2005
Pay Per Song Model Fading Fast: Average iPod Owner Only Buys 21 Songs
Further proof that the pay-per-song model is flawed. A recent study from iTunesperiPod claims that the average iPod owner buys only 21 songs. As a contrast, I just downloaded 1,144 songs this week with my brand new Yahoo Music unlimited subscription ($59 a year or $4.99 a month) and can meld those songs with my existing database of over 5,000 CDs I own and painfully digitized. Even if I stop downloading the rest of the year, the $59 is totally worth it in my book to have a three figure song list.
“As of April 15, Apple had sold roughly 60 million iTunes and 3 million iPods (sources below). That’s about 21 songs per iPod. For perspective, the smallest iPods hold 1,000 songs, and some hold 10,000 songs. So, when people fill up those iPods, where does all the music come from? Let’s face it: the incredible capacity of computers, iPods, and iPod imitators means everyone is going to listen to much more music than they actually buy.” Source: iTunesperiPod via Boing Boing
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Lockergnome's Tech News Watch says:
Pay Per Song Model Fading Fast: Average iPod Owner Only Buys 21 Songs
Further proof that the pay-per-song model is flawed. A recent study from iTunesperiPod claims that the average iPod owner buys only 21 songs. As a contrast, I just downloaded 1,144 songs this week with my brand new Yahoo Music unlimited subscription ($…
June 15th, 2005 at 6:35 am
Christian Calzadillas says:
I found this article a bit perplexing at first. Apple announced just last week that the iTunes music store had sold more than 430 million songs as of the end of the last quarter, and that Apple has sold over 16 million iPods.
Then I realized that “April 15″ referenced in the article was April 15, 2004, not 2005. The average is then closer to 27 songs, not 21.
June 15th, 2005 at 7:42 am
Johan van Rooyen says:
Well I thought CDs are already in digital form so “digitizing” doesn’t perhaps quite convey the full flavor of “ripping!”
Anyway once one starts quoting figures, all sorts of questions come to mind like: “Where does someone who owns 5000 CDs and probably spent about $50,000 on them, where do they get the time to listen to them all?” And then, not content with just 5000 CDs, they go and download another bucket load of songs in just one week. If money really were important to such an individual couldn’t they just do what I do - learn to appreciate the first 30 seconds only of a song and that way you’ve got a world of totally free music (that’s free but not pirated)in iTunes.
;)
June 15th, 2005 at 8:19 am
Jason says:
Bah! Listening to the first 30 seconds of a song is like getting into heavy foreplay, then tipping your hat and saying goodnight. You have to listen to the whole song! That’s the point of music!
I am curious if Alice’s comment about “5,000 CDs” was supposed to read “5,000 songs”. 5,000 CDs would be a mind-blowing expense! And about 4,500 hours of music! Goddam!
June 15th, 2005 at 8:40 am
Alice says:
Whoops - that was 5,000 CD, I hand-ripped about 500 CD though and let me tell you downloading is much nicer. And I listen to the whole song - made a massive “summer playlist” that takes over 4 hours and LOVE it!
June 15th, 2005 at 9:53 am
degustibus says:
I have several thousand B-O-O-ks.
(and not a thing to read.)
June 15th, 2005 at 10:39 am
GeekFun says:
When iPod news isn’t new
Over a year ago, Downhill Battle did a little math on some number’s from some Apple press-releases and came to the conclusion that there have been an average of 21 songs sold on the iTunes Music Store per iPod sold….
June 15th, 2005 at 10:51 am
Doug says:
Your average songs per iPod based on the number of iPods purchased and iTunes downloaded is flawed. You assumed that the only peope who use iTunes are iPod owners. Not everyone who uses iTunes has an iPod. I have iTunes on my Dell and have downloaded a dozen or so songs. I think it is a great player. I am sure there are lots of Mac users without iPods that have downloaded music from iTunes as well. This being the case, your 21 songs per iPod is actually high.
June 15th, 2005 at 2:18 pm
TCNYC says:
The assertion that iPod owners must be stealing music from the conglomerates/RIAA is absurd. I, for example, own about 800 CDs and have finally just finished digitizing all of them. So that gets me set for music purchased from 1986-2004/5. I will continue to buy CDs, as many CD player owning folks will do. What does iTunes Music Store sales figures have to do with my iPod or, more importantly, online music sales or online theft? Call me when they start selling 44.1k/16bit files online, until then please remove mine and so many other’s iPods from these statistics.
June 15th, 2005 at 4:35 pm
Alice says:
I agree, but 27 songs or whatever the number is at this minute means that the per song model is too pricey. I will probably but 30 songs over the next year, but if I can skip digitizing and delete the junk before I buy the songs I like, the subscription model works for me.
June 15th, 2005 at 7:22 pm
Brother52 says:
I personally own over 2000 LPs and close to a 1000 CDs all ripped.I have a total of about 28,000 mp3s from various sources. They are palyed 24-7 and broadcast to every radio in my home from a dedicated music server. I have yet to hear a commercial….;)
There’s nothing wrong with PAYING for music although free is better but….You have to be a moron to own an IPOD and PAY a dollar per song anyway! Are people that incredibly stupid? Try this math ….CD has 16 songs @ a dollar a song you pay 16 dollars , the record company pays NOTHING read: NO manufacturing cost and NO distribution cost. All you get is 16 INFERIOR QUALITY songs. NO plastic wrapping, NO case, NO CD, NO lyrics, NO album cover NO liner notes. This message needs to get out to the brainwashed masses who think a dollar is a fair price before it becomes a standard and we all end up paying more for less!! Go with the subcription services or sites such as allofmp3. The music industry needs to understand that we don’t mind paying if the price is reasonable.
June 18th, 2005 at 7:26 am
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September 18th, 2006 at 8:23 pm
When iPod news isn’t new at GeekFun says:
[…] What’s getting lost in the retelling is that the data is over a year old. Boing Boing includes the full dateline on the quote in their post, but other people aren’t being careful about including the year, making it look like the data is recent. I have to wonder if they are even aware that this news isn’t really news. […]
April 2nd, 2007 at 8:46 pm