Ha, I think not. MySpace is very late to the idea of offering a music site, and if the two other music websites haven’t caught up to iTunes, I don’t think any site will at this point. If MySpace had gone into the game a lot earlier, they would of had a good chance of being a successful music site. I mean iTunes has the majority of music subscribers, it’s just as simple as that. I don’t think anyone will come in their way at this point. The sales of the Apple iPod definitely garnered attention from many people, and if it weren’t for the Apple iPod iTunes could have crashed-and-burned. To me, Apple has some sort of advantage in this market, although I do have to say that they pull off the software part of it extremely well and that also helps promote their sales.

VIA eFlux Media

It was about time. I knew this time would come eventually. And now, that time is here. Apple finally surpassed everyone else in the digital music download services. And looking at the CD trends stated by NPD, it does not look like this trend is going to let up. Here is how Michelle Quinn and Dawn C. Chmielewski from the Los Angeles Times describe it:

NPD Group, based in Port Washington, N.Y., did not release figures on how many albums each company sold. It said it counted every 12 singles sold as one album, and that Apple probably received a boost during the two months by people cashing in iTunes gift cards — which Wal-Mart and other retailers also sell — received during the holiday season.

So it looks Apple might have had a sales boost for certain parts of the year. In my own opinion, Apple would have dominated the market even if they were counted in a more accurate way. Although I am an avid user of iTunes myself, I do have to say that it does have some flaws. First and foremost, from what I recall from reading other forum posts, you can only redownload your lost iTunes songs ONCE. And to do that, again from what I recall, you have to go through a more or less complicated talk with Apple support. Also, some of the songs on movie soundtracks could ONLY be purchased when you buy the whole album. That is another flaw that has irritated me so. I have yet to know why Apple does these kinds of things, and I am interested in knowing. But for know, I am hanging with iTunes, until other competition, like Sony BMG, blows them out of the water (hopefully ).

VIA Los Angeles Times

I would have never seen something like this coming from Apple. Now that iPod sales have died down, it appears that they are looking into taking action to keep those sales figures up. They are talking about bundling unlimited iTunes library downloads with the purchase of an iPod. Once again Apple, you have made my day. Just them talking about something like this makes me so excited.

It seems to me that Apple has a lot of projects that they are trying to keep up with. Maybe they are starting to lose their shine in light of all of the criticisms of their products. I mean, first comes the iPhone 2.0, then the new Apple TV, and now this. Apple, watch your back! I would hate to see your products go down the drain . Maybe the Apple-haters out there can finally gloat in the Apple-lover’s faces. Enough of my rant, back to the news.

The only thing keeping me back from a deal like this would be the price tag and the fact of buying a new iPod. I mean how high can Apple go for this type of thing? They aren’t one of those wacko outrageously priced sellers that I too often see in the industry these days, such as HDMI cables. But pushing that aside, buying a new iPod after less than a year’s use seems to be overdoing it a little. But we will keep our eyes peeled for any news on this again.