Apple's iTunes Widens Lead Over Market
May 12, 2011 9:18:38 GMT -5
Post by areyoureadytojump on May 12, 2011 9:18:38 GMT -5
www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/others/retail-track-apple-s-itunes-widens-lead-1005173082.story
Retail Track: Apple's iTunes Widens Lead Over Market
May 06, 2011
By Ed Christman
There appears to be no stopping Steve Jobs and his fabulous iFactory.
In 2010, when digital track downloads registered a meager uptick of less than 1% and digital album growth also slowed, Apple's iTunes grew its market share by a staggering six percentage points, accounting for one-third of all recorded-music revenue in the United States.
According to my analysis, iTunes-with 32.98% of the market-augmented its share at the expense of practically every other music purveyor in the country, including big mobile carriers like Verizon and such brick-and-mortar retailers as Walmart.
In fact, iTunes' market-share gain was so robust, it more than offset the decline that the mobile sector suffered in the prior year. The company's growth spurt can arguably take credit for increasing the digital business' total share. In 2009, digital accounts in the top 20 made up a combined 35.5%. Today they represent 42.26% of the market.
Overall, the top 20 U.S. music sellers accounted for 87.62% of the industry's $6.9 billion in revenue last year, up from an 85% share in 2009, but down slightly from an 88% share in 2008. Of that, brick-and-mortar establishments accounted for 45.26% of the business, a decline of just four percentage points from 2009, but a sharp drop from the 57.5% share they enjoyed in 2008. No. 2-ranked Anderson Merchandisers, which racks Walmart, saw its market share drop by nearly two percentage points, to 10.66%, despite picking up the Army Airforce Exchange Services account in 2010. Label executives attribute the decline to Walmart's conversion-known by insiders as Project Hollywood-of prime music space to video.
For the second straight year, every mobile account lost market share, most likely attributable to the declines in ringtone downloads and pricing, as well as the ability for users to access music services outside of those offered by the carrier.
Meanwhile, digital subscription services realized slight gains in market share. Among them, eMusic returned to the top 20 for the first time since 2007 after the company eked out a slight increase in its business.
No. 5 on this year's list, Amazon, watched its market share drop slightly in 2010, to 6.88%, though the share of its MP3 store jumped to 2.21%, from 1.3%. How its new cloud music service-slated to launch ahead of new cloud services from iTunes, Google and Spotify-will affect this year's market share for Amazon will be particularly interesting.
Like most other accounts in the top 20, Alliance Entertainment's market share of 5.66% was hurt by the 21.4% decline in CD sales last year. Earlier this year, the Coral Springs, Fla.-based wholesaler, which private equity firms Platinum Equity and Gores Group acquired in 2009, bought the assets of another one-stop, the Edge. The Edge was the 13th-ranked account in 2010 with 0.73%. It remains to be seen, however, if Alliance, which supplies music to Barnes & Noble and Kmart, can retain the Edge's sales volume, or if the accounts that bought from the Streetsboro, Ohio-based wholesaler will start buying from other one-stops, like Baker & Taylor or Super D.
Of those two, Super D was one of the few top 20 accounts to post an increase in market share, growing to 1.57% from 1.48% in 2009, even though Super D dropped down one notch in the rankings to No. 10. Conversely, Baker & Taylor suffered a dramatic decline, from 1.21% in 2009 to 0.68%.
As for old-school music chains, Trans World posted significant growth in 2010, finishing the year with 3.47% share, up from 2.92% in 2009. The reason: lower prices and a deeper catalog-this at a time when other chains are slashing their inventories.
Hastings Entertainment also enjoyed market-share growth as it continues to remain one of the more profitable multimedia stores in the industry. On the other hand, Borders, which earlier this year filed for Chapter 11 protection, saw its market share decline to 0.86% in 2010 from 1.16%. Given the amount of store closures that are expected in the months ahead, Borders will likely slip a few more places on next year's list.
Two notable near misses: YouTube and Vevo. Though similar in size-each controls an estimated 0.40% market share-the two websites just missed cracking the top 20 by a few hundredths of a percentage point.
Retail Track: Apple's iTunes Widens Lead Over Market
May 06, 2011
By Ed Christman
There appears to be no stopping Steve Jobs and his fabulous iFactory.
In 2010, when digital track downloads registered a meager uptick of less than 1% and digital album growth also slowed, Apple's iTunes grew its market share by a staggering six percentage points, accounting for one-third of all recorded-music revenue in the United States.
According to my analysis, iTunes-with 32.98% of the market-augmented its share at the expense of practically every other music purveyor in the country, including big mobile carriers like Verizon and such brick-and-mortar retailers as Walmart.
In fact, iTunes' market-share gain was so robust, it more than offset the decline that the mobile sector suffered in the prior year. The company's growth spurt can arguably take credit for increasing the digital business' total share. In 2009, digital accounts in the top 20 made up a combined 35.5%. Today they represent 42.26% of the market.
Overall, the top 20 U.S. music sellers accounted for 87.62% of the industry's $6.9 billion in revenue last year, up from an 85% share in 2009, but down slightly from an 88% share in 2008. Of that, brick-and-mortar establishments accounted for 45.26% of the business, a decline of just four percentage points from 2009, but a sharp drop from the 57.5% share they enjoyed in 2008. No. 2-ranked Anderson Merchandisers, which racks Walmart, saw its market share drop by nearly two percentage points, to 10.66%, despite picking up the Army Airforce Exchange Services account in 2010. Label executives attribute the decline to Walmart's conversion-known by insiders as Project Hollywood-of prime music space to video.
For the second straight year, every mobile account lost market share, most likely attributable to the declines in ringtone downloads and pricing, as well as the ability for users to access music services outside of those offered by the carrier.
Meanwhile, digital subscription services realized slight gains in market share. Among them, eMusic returned to the top 20 for the first time since 2007 after the company eked out a slight increase in its business.
No. 5 on this year's list, Amazon, watched its market share drop slightly in 2010, to 6.88%, though the share of its MP3 store jumped to 2.21%, from 1.3%. How its new cloud music service-slated to launch ahead of new cloud services from iTunes, Google and Spotify-will affect this year's market share for Amazon will be particularly interesting.
Like most other accounts in the top 20, Alliance Entertainment's market share of 5.66% was hurt by the 21.4% decline in CD sales last year. Earlier this year, the Coral Springs, Fla.-based wholesaler, which private equity firms Platinum Equity and Gores Group acquired in 2009, bought the assets of another one-stop, the Edge. The Edge was the 13th-ranked account in 2010 with 0.73%. It remains to be seen, however, if Alliance, which supplies music to Barnes & Noble and Kmart, can retain the Edge's sales volume, or if the accounts that bought from the Streetsboro, Ohio-based wholesaler will start buying from other one-stops, like Baker & Taylor or Super D.
Of those two, Super D was one of the few top 20 accounts to post an increase in market share, growing to 1.57% from 1.48% in 2009, even though Super D dropped down one notch in the rankings to No. 10. Conversely, Baker & Taylor suffered a dramatic decline, from 1.21% in 2009 to 0.68%.
As for old-school music chains, Trans World posted significant growth in 2010, finishing the year with 3.47% share, up from 2.92% in 2009. The reason: lower prices and a deeper catalog-this at a time when other chains are slashing their inventories.
Hastings Entertainment also enjoyed market-share growth as it continues to remain one of the more profitable multimedia stores in the industry. On the other hand, Borders, which earlier this year filed for Chapter 11 protection, saw its market share decline to 0.86% in 2010 from 1.16%. Given the amount of store closures that are expected in the months ahead, Borders will likely slip a few more places on next year's list.
Two notable near misses: YouTube and Vevo. Though similar in size-each controls an estimated 0.40% market share-the two websites just missed cracking the top 20 by a few hundredths of a percentage point.
