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Written by tinfoil
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Saturday, 10 March 2007 07:43
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The Wallstreet Journal posits that Apple has taken over Walmarts position as the gatekeeper to success for new music. For some time it was almost vital to the success of a new artist to get their music into Walmart stores. Indeed, if they weren't able to, there was a much higher chance of them not being able to break even or make much of a name for themselves. Walmart was, and still is, the largest seller of music in North America, if not the world, but WSJ believes being listed on iTunes Music Store is now more important than a presence in Walmart. Every day, the roughly one million people who visit the iTunes Store home page are presented with several dozen albums, TV shows and movie downloads to consider buying -- out of the four million such goods the Apple site offers. This prime promotion is analogous to a CD being displayed at the checkout stands of all 940 Best Buy stores or featured on the front page of Target's ad circular. Apple -- now one of the largest sellers of music in the U.S. -- offers home-page placement in exchange for things such as exclusive access to new songs, special discount pricing or additional material such as interviews with stars. Most other big retailers, digital and physical, also seek exclusive offerings, but Apple is especially aggressive and has outsize clout when it comes to the slightly out-of-mainstream music it often emphasizes. The decisions by the small group of Silicon Valley and music-industry veterans running iTunes can help put an unknown band on the map, adding millions of dollars in sales, while relegating others to the obscurity of the site's virtual back bins.
Of course, it's not all roses: Apple's muscle-flexing has begun to rub some artists and music companies the wrong way. During a recent radio interview, outspoken British pop singer Lily Allen accused iTunes of "bullying" artists into supplying exclusive content. There's a further worry among music executives that the few spots available to promote artists on iTunes are dwindling as Apple remakes the store into a broader entertainment destination for TV shows, movies and games.
Read the rest here
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 10 March 2007 07:43 )
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