The iTunes Music Store has hit another milestone since its ambitious opening in April of this year. Monday, Apple Computer announced that over 20 million songs have now been sold online through its service.
One of the early worries about selling music online was that complete album sales would disappear in favor of the popular singles from an artist. If the indications from Appleis digital music service are representative of the publicis buying habits, this fear may be unfounded. From a News.com article:
Apple director of marketing Peter Lowe said that 45 percent of songs downloaded through iTunes had been sold as part of a full album, rather than in single song form. That indicates many people are still interested in purchasing large numbers of songs, or full albums, despite having a la carte options, Lowe said.
The article also revealed research that showed iTMS customers actually bought more music than their offline counterparts during the first four months it was operating. Where the average teen would buy a CD every couple of months, the average iTMS buyer would buy the equivalent of one per month.