Okay, Apple’s iTunes is apparently doing gangbuster business. They’ve broken sales expectations for the site. What I want to do know, is how do the songs which are being downloaded compare to what’s being played on the radio? IOW, are people buying songs which they regularly hear on the radio, or are they buying things which aren’t getting much airplay? (Thus proving what many of us having been saying that the “ClearChannelization” of the US is ruining radio.) Anyone know?
Apple doesn’t seem to be releasing those stats, which isn’t surprising. It isn’t as impressive to say they sold 2,999,450 top forty singles, and 550 “other”. (obviously, just a guess)
I personally don’t see any reason why the sales charts would differ any from Billboard charts or Gnutella stats. Unless, of course, Apple users were somehow extra resistant to marketing hype and fashion trends.
Seems contrary to the evidence though.
Today’s top 25 album downloads on iTunes as of right now (in order)…
Jewel : “0304”
Jack Johnson : “On And On”
Pat Metheny : “One Quiet Night”
ColdPlay : “A Rush of Blood To The Head”
Live : “Birds of Pray”
Dave Gahan : “Paper Monsters”
The Bad Plus : “These Are The Vistas”
The Doors : “Greatest Hits”
Sting & The Police : “The Very Best of”
Arstud Gilberto : “The Diva Series”
Matchbox Twenty : “Exclusive”
O.A.R. : “In Between Now and Then”
Cat Stevens : “Tea For The Tillerman”
Various : “The Ultimate Diva Collection”
The Eagles : “Eagles”
Massive Attack : “100th Window”
Marilyn Manson : “The Golden Age of Grotesque”
Sugar Ray : “In The Pursuit of Leisure”
Jack Johnson : “Brushfire Fairytales”
Coldplay : “Exclusive”
Coldplay : “Parachutes”
Boroding String Quartet : “Beethoven String Quartets Nos. 7,9,11,15”
Staind : “14 Shades of Grey”
Fischerspooner : “#1”
It doesn’t look very ClearChanneled to me. Then again, we Apple types are known to think different.
Really? With the exception of a few greatest hits albums (or, all the top 40 songs) and the rather odd Boroding String Quartet occurance, this seems to be pretty standard fare.
Do they have any other top whatever lists? Perhaps singles or top 100? Would be very interesting.
And Mr. McJ, I wasn’t accusing you of thinking differently, quite the opposite in fact.
In one of my magazines (probably EW), they had a bit about Fischerspooner (listed last on the Mayor’s list). Even though it’s their debut CD, it’s selling really well. Turns out it’s one of the “featured selections” and shows up on the front page or something. Mainly because their label gave Apple a lot of “exclusive” content. So that kind of thing will skew any top whatever list as well.