Follow the money! You hear this often enough, and it can apply to many areas, including online music marketing. Doesn’t it make sense to have your music available where the source claims the highest online music market share? Of course! So where is this?
Despite some talk about downloads disappearing, it seems music downloads carry on with a vengeance. The NPD Group, Inc. is a market research company that has an entertainment branch for music and videos. The information they provide delves into the digital, mobile and physical entertainment marketplace. They recently released a report stating that iTunes claimed a 64 percent share of digital download sales in the United States. If you are following the money, this may be the right place to start.
iTunes Online Music Market Share Just Grows
iTunes seems to be on top of the heap and just continues to grow with its share of the online music market. In 2010, its overall share was 33 percent and grew to more than 38 percent in 2011. These figures came from Billboard. Also, awareness of iTunes is strong according to the NPD Group, after a survey of more than two million consumers.
When a music artist is intent on expanding his fan base, increasing revenue and getting his music heard, it makes sense to take advantage of the huge markets. Of course, iTunes is not the only venue.
Others with Online Music Market Shares
The digital market share is opening up and anything could happen. Recently, NPD reported that Amazon MP3 came in second to iTunes with 16 percent of the digital online music market share, and others that are just getting rolling include eMusic, Google Play and Zune Music Pass. Although only currently around 5 percent or less of the music market share, these companies are still contenders and worth looking into for a music artist wishing to market his music.
Will Free or Subscription Radio Move into Top Places?
Despite the streaming online music services, digital music does continue to go on full force. The radio and on-demand music services include:
- Pandora
- iHeartRadio
- Spotify
More and more take these music services but this has not stopped the growth of digital music downloads. Again, according to the NPD Group, almost 50 percent of all Internet users know of Pandora radio and about one-third of these knew of the paid subscription service. However, only 25 percent of those surveyed actually used the service.
With all this information, what is the music artist to do? Get your music on every line you can. It is not just one channel that will bring in the big bucks. It is the use of a number of them, or all of them!
