Digital Home Thoughts: Why iTunes Is So Popular

It’s all about the music
Music is part of our lives. From your car stereo to your home CD library, music enriches our daily life. It inspires and energizes us, even when we are feeling the weight of the world on our shoulders. Just plug in your headphones, fire up your playlist and lose yourself in the music. And having the ability to access a massive library with thousands of audio tracks from various artists’ right at your fingertips is a panacea. Combine that with the industry’s most popular digital audio player and it’s no wonder iTunes is the Rosetta stone of online music.


Digital Crack
When Apple first announced the iTunes Music store, I was highly skeptical as to why I, or anyone else, would want to download audio tracks (short of pirating them via Napster and Kazaa) when they can simply purchase CD’s and rip them onto their hard drive. After all…music is music no matter what form of media it is distributed in. But after using my iPod with iTunes for several months now, I get it. iTunes isn’t just a place where you purchase tracks; it is a user experience…a lifestyle. Over the past year, I have purchase music from artists I had never before heard of or rarely listened to, ranging from Peter Pan by Jim Boggia, to Don’t Dream It’s Over by Crowded House. Even old classics from groups like The Platters have caught my ear. And prior to iTunes I would never have even given a thought to downloading such music. This is where iTunes is such an invaluable tool. It connects consumers with artists. Allowing users to actually sample music that normally wouldn’t appeal to them, or were never before exposed to. Downloading music via iTunes is like digital crack. Once you start, only your Credit limit can stop you.

The Future?
Could this be a model for how all music will be distributed in a not too distant future? Give consumers the ability to choose what artist and track they wish to purchase, eliminating the middle man. The traditional venue for artists to distribute their music is through the dreaded and corrupt major Record Labels. But iTunes empowers a whole new generation of independent artists, enabling them to promote their talent to a wide and captive audience.

At the very least consumers can purchase music they would normally be too ashamed to buy in public. I still get accusing stares from my friends every time they see my movie soundtracks and classical music collection. Yes, I have sick taste in music…I admit it. I prefer to think of myself as eclectic. They think of me as in need of psychiatric therapy.

Everybody wants to get into the act
Apple got the user experience and ease of use down to a science. Finding a song in iTunes couldn’t be simpler, even offering a free download of the week, and highlighting celebrity playlists. This is why so many iTunes wannabe’s are copying Apple’s formula. All those 99 cent songs add up to a major revenue stream for whomever can grab the most customers. Hardware is purely a secondary source of income compared to the much larger download market. Even Microsoft knows this, although fashionably late. But I wonder if the folks in Redmond truly comprehend the depth and scale of what online music offers consumers…and how to offer it?

Great music…great hardware…great software…great user experience. iTunes isn’t just a store, it’s a way of life. The digital lifestyle.