Ya Don't Say?

You may have already heard, but in case you haven't, on April 28th, Apple's iTunes turned 10 years old. The brain child of Steve Jobs has turned out to be a game changer that has rewritten the book on how we not only listen, but how we buy, and sell music.

The late 1990s brought us the mp3, a compressed music file that quickly became popular among college students and then others as well. Not long after it's introduction, the mp3 became the most popular way to stream and down load music on the internet. Mp3 players were just coming on to the market when Apple took a chance on inventor Tony Fadell's latest creation. After a year in development Apple released the first iPod in 2001.

Steve Jobs saw the iPod as more than just an mp3 player. He saw it as an opportunity to bring together the music that everyone loved with a way to listen to it, buy it, and play it back later. He got together with the then big five major record companies to hash up a deal that ultimately produced the iTunes Store.

Fast forward 10 years and we find that iTunes is the leader in digital download sales offering not only music, but movies, TV shows, eBooks and more. Apple's secret to success? That can be debated, but offering single songs for .99 cents and albums for $9.99 was a very good place to start. And, if you owned an iPod, what better place to get new content than the iTunes Store.

To go a little further, iTunes also changed how the market place worked for recording artist. Not only would major label artist be featured, but independent artist have been given access as well. This has made a huge difference in what an emusic store can offer as opposed to what a brick & mortar store can offer. And, it has given artists with music from every genre, from all around the globe, a voice in the music market place.

Recently iTunes racked up it's 25 billionth download. While streaming is on the rise, it's my opinion that the continuing growth of broadband, coupled with the advent of new compression schemes that allow for lossless file creation, will keep the desire for ownership of your favorite tunes at the top of every music lover priorities. But, Apple is said to be readying it's own iRadio in the event that what I believe should not be the way it goes. One way or another, Apple is looking to stay on top of it's game.