Petteri Pyyny
21 Jul 2003 15:26
Many in the digital multimedia world saw the Billboard magazine's decision to start an official download music chart a sign that finally the digital music industry had matured to a point when it can be considered as a real alternative to traditional music distribution. But by looking at the numbers, it doesn't require very much to get into top 10.
According to the stats Billboard collected for the week ending at 19th of July, 2003, the top song in paid music downloads category was "Crazy in Love" by Beyoncé with Jay-Z. But that song only received 1,500 paid downloads. And the chart number 10 only got 500 paid downloads. So, in theory, any artist that's featured on any of the source sites for the chart (iTunes, Pressplay, etc) could easily buy themselves a top position in the charts. To put the figures in comparision, Beyoncé's new album sold over 317,000 copies during the same week, just in the U.S.
But another interesting fact is that Apple claims to serve over 500,000 paid downloads a week through its iTunes service. If this figure is correct and in line with the figures it provides to Billboard magazine, it means that people are listening and paying for huge variety of different kinds of music. Could it be true that online digital music stores are finally demolishing the "manufactured music"'s position, even if in very small scale?
Source: MSN