Sales Still Strong for Apple Music Store – Europe Next

Apple announced today that sales for the iTunes Music Store have reached 2 million songs in 16 days, continuing the rate of about 1 million songs per week:

Continuing the trend set during the first week, over half of the songs purchased to date were purchased as albums, further dispelling concerns that selling music on a per-track basis will destroy album sales.

“Response to the iTunes Music Store has been phenomenal — we’ve clearly hit a chord with users,” said Steve Jobs, Apple’s CEO. “We’re adding new songs every day, giving music lovers even more reasons to legally download their favorite music.”

The iTunes Music Store lets customers quickly find, purchase and download the music they want for just 99 cents per song, without subscription fees. The iTunes Music Store offers groundbreaking personal use rights, including burning songs onto an unlimited number of CDs for personal use, listening to songs on an unlimited number of iPods, playing songs on up to three Macintosh® computers, and using songs in any application on the Mac®, including iPhoto(TM), iMovie(TM) and iDVD(TM).

Over 4,300 new songs were added to the iTunes Music Store yesterday, including five albums from The Doors; new featured artist Fischerspooner’s album “#1” plus an exclusive remix of their hit “Emerge;” new albums from Cold, Lizz Wright, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs; pre-release tracks from upcoming albums by Michelle Branch, Da Brat, Jesse Harris and Kenna; and, completing her catalog of music now available on the store, Alanis Morissette’s albums “Under Rug Swept” and “Supposed Former Infatuation Junkie.” Additionally, albums representing diverse genres of music — from rock and alternative to jazz and classical — were added from artists including John Coltrane, Charles Mingus, Nina Simone, Paul Oakenfold and Staind.

Today the U.S. (well, the 3% who use Apple computers), tomorrow Europe:

Computer company Apple is negotiating with record labels to launch its iTunes online music download service in Europe by the end of the year following the venture’s much-hyped US debut.

….Apple and its chief executive Steve Jobs now want to show it can solve the problems facing record companies in Europe too. The secret of Mr Jobs’ success is partly to do with Apple’s cachet, its reputation for good design and for championing consumers rather than corporations.

….A list of this week’s leading downloads through iTunes in the US suggests British record company EMI could profit from the system. Two of its acts – Coldplay and Norah Jones – are among the most popular.

….Record industry insiders said they were impressed by the early success of iTunes but cautioned that launching in Europe would not be easy.

They said that, with many artists signed to different labels in different countries, rights agreements would take time to secure.

….Given the growing enthusi asm of record labels for the concept of paid-for downloads, as shown by EMI’s recent decision to make more than 90% of its catalogue available on the web, the service could launch in Europe by the autumn. [Guardian]

iWorld.