Tektodo

This past Thursday was a milestone for Apple and the entire music industry. For the first time ever, iTunes has surpassed Wal-Mart to become the largest music retailer in the United States. So how was Apple able to arrive at this significant event? The reason is that iTunes has marked a fundamental shift in the way consumers receive their content. It was iTunes that really helped to revolutionize the music industry and show consumers that they could easily and legally download their favorite songs.

This flexibility has allowed consumers to buy what they want (most of the time, some songs can only be purchased as part of an album). iTunes has made it easy for consumers to get what they want, when they want. Rather than driving to the store to buy a CD that only has five songs that you actually want, you can instead just download those five songs and be listening to them in a matter of seconds. This type of content delivery has also started to carry over to other areas as well, such as TV shows and movies, an area where iTunes is also dominating.

However, iTunes is not without its problems. Until recently, consumers were limited to purchasing songs with DRM, which meant that if you bought something on iTunes and wanted to listen to it on the road, you would have to use an iPod (or attempt to remove the DRM). Luckily, Apple has realized the problems which DRM poses and has finally started offering DRM-free content; of course it now faces competition from Amazon.com, which also offers DRM-free music and usually for a lower price.

iTunes has garnered the support of over 50 million customers who have spent over $4 billion on the online store, the equivalent of each customer spending $80. Apple has certainly struck gold with its innovative distribution system, but while this is great for Apple, it can be problematic for music labels and TV/movie studios who have frequently complained about Apple’s methods, particularly its pricing strategy.

Nevertheless, iTunes has revolutionized the way we buy our music and, most recently, our TV shows and movies. In the process, iTunes has helped to pave the way for an era of digital distribution. From Amazon to MySpace, companies are starting to recognize the importance of digital content delivery. As this type of distribution continues to grow in popularity, Apple will continue to face competition in the online arena, but as it has proven with its recent ascension to the position of number one music retailer, Apple is more than ready for the challenge.

Filed under: Apple, Computers, iPod, Mac OS X, Technology Tagged: | Amazon.com, Apple, CD, DRM, iTunes, movies, music, MySpace, TV, Wal-Mart