Digital Home Thoughts: BusinessWeek: "Apple May Be Holding Back The Music Biz"

"Once again, Apple's iPod is expected to be the hottest gift of the holiday season. That should be great news for the recording industry, right? After all, many of the 10 million or so new iPod owners surely will rush to Apple Computer Inc.'s iTunes Music Store to load up on songs. Not necessarily. As has been true since the start, iPod owners mostly fill up their players from their own CD collections or swipe tunes from file-sharing sites. Now legal downloads may be losing their luster. According to Nielsen SoundScan, average weekly download sales as of Nov. 27 fell 0.44% vs. the third quarter. Says independent media analyst Richard Greenfield: "We're not seeing the kind of dramatic growth we should given the surge in sales of iPods and other MP3 players."

Uh...am I missing something here? Nielsen estimates that music download sales have dropped by less than half a percentage point from the previous quarter...and that implies the bubble has burst for online music? Interesting. As for Apple holding back the industry, I won't dispute the fact that Apple's walled garden approach to music distribution is indeed an obstacle. I'm becoming somewhat disturbed by the fact that I'm locked into iTunes via the iPod. Something has to give sooner or later, and I am beginning to look to the future...towards a time when I won't be using an iPod. And that day is coming sooner than you think. :wink: