iTunes

Sam Smith, Kylie Minogue, Calvin Harris & 5 Seconds Of Summer To Perform At London iTunes Festival

Bradley Stern | July 21, 2014 8:02 am
Bradley Stern | July 21, 2014 8:02 am

iTunes Rewind 2010: Eminem Dominates, Plus A Lot Of You Bought That Train Song

Becky Bain | December 9, 2010 12:17 pm
Becky Bain | December 9, 2010 12:17 pm

The Beatles And iTunes Come Together

Robbie Daw | November 16, 2010 8:12 am
Robbie Daw | November 16, 2010 8:12 am


iTunes Sells Its Ten Billionth Song

Robbie Daw | February 25, 2010 7:10 am
Robbie Daw | February 25, 2010 7:10 am

How Many Of iTunes’ 25 Most-Downloaded Songs Do You Own?

Robbie Daw | February 12, 2010 2:59 pm
Robbie Daw | February 12, 2010 2:59 pm

iTunes Rewind 2009: See What The Masses Were Downloading This Year

Robbie Daw | December 9, 2009 7:51 am
Robbie Daw | December 9, 2009 7:51 am

itunesExactly what do the Black Eyed Peas, Miley Cyrus, Kings Of Leon and Lady Gaga have in common, besides dominating the airwaves across the country over the past year? They all landed high up on iTunes’ Rewind 2009 list of top-selling songs and albums.

Surprisingly, the Peas, who had two of the top downloaded songs of the year, only ranked at #10 with their album The E.N.D. Guess there really is a threshold when it comes to a full hour of Fergie.

Check out what ended up being the most downloaded music of the year at the digital retailer, and what was singled out by iTunes editors—including the not-so-surprising (Artist Of The Year: Micheal Jackson) and mildly-surprising (Best Soundtrack: (500) Days Of Summer)—after the jump. More »



Oh Hey, That “Beatles Albums Arriving On iTunes” Chatter Is Starting Again

noah | August 18, 2009 2:00 pm
noah | August 18, 2009 2:00 pm

magicaliphoneAccording to the tech-news site AllThingsD, Apple has a music event scheduled for Sept. 9. ATD says that the event will involve “upgrades to the iPod line and an update to iTunes that may involve some sort of social element.” But since that date just happens to be a big one for Beatles fans—the band’s remastered catalog is coming out, as well as The Beatles: Rock Band—other news outlets are wondering if this will be the day that the Fab Four’s catalog finally comes to iTunes, after years and years of speculation on the part of the music press. And if it doesn’t happen? Well, music-tech reporters will probably be thanking their lucky stars that the dusty story about the band’s digital upgrade can have life breathed into it at least one more time. [AllThingsD] More »


Brake The Drake? “Degrassi” Alum Scales Chart Despite Online Stumbling Blocks

Chris Molanphy | July 24, 2009 4:00 pm
Chris Molanphy | July 24, 2009 4:00 pm

drake_bestWhen the music story of 2009 is written, the year’s debutante queen and king will be Lady GaGa and Drake, who have treated Billboard‘s Hot 100 as their playground lately. Each is a lock for a Best New Artist Grammy nomination next winter, because each is exactly the sort of not-too-innovative, chart-friendly act the Recording Academy routinely rewards.

For both acts, however, the path to the Top 10 has been a bit of a slog. GaGa’s on a roll now, but she spent most of 2008 watching her debut “Just Dance” creep up the Hot 100 before its January 2009 triumph; each of her chart-toppers needed an abnormally long time to scale the list. Her latest, “LoveGame,” has had the easiest rise of all, even as it peaked below the top slot.

Drake is poised to join GaGa as a debutante chart-topper with “Best I Ever Had” (No. 2), if he can get past the Black Eyed Peas. Compared with the Lady, the former Degrassi: The Next Generation cast member has had an easier time, exploding into the Top 10 with “Best” and the Lil Wayne-backed Young Money single “Every Girl.”

But even Drake has had bumps along the way—in particular, a week in which “Best” took a one-week, Estelle-like swoon thanks to a dispute over who was allowed to release his songs on iTunes. He’s more than recovered, but the mix-up and the song’s temporary plummet show how critical digital sales are to the Hot 100.

I don’t normally talk here about technology or digital rights, but in the wake of Amazon’s disastrous recall of two George Orwell e-books last week, it’s worth exploring what happened to Drake’s hit and what it means for chart tabulation and the songs we buy. More »


iTunes Users Taking A Look At Their Libraries And Making A Change

noah | June 26, 2009 10:30 am
noah | June 26, 2009 10:30 am

200px-mjmitmIt’s not all that surprising that the wake of Michael Jackson’s death has resulted in the pop titan possessing more than a third of the slots on the current iTunes Top 100. But the top-selling song on that chart is an unexpected one: It’s “Man In The Mirror,” the inspirational track from his 1987 album Bad that spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 the following spring. More »



iTunes’ Copywriters Also Very Surprised By Kris Allen’s Victory

noah | May 21, 2009 11:30 am
noah | May 21, 2009 11:30 am

oopsieOver at the iTunes Store, the person responsible for writing Kris Allen’s winners-circle copy is either still mentally recovering from being reminded of “Big Girls Don’t Cry (Personal)” during last night’s American Idol or slyly noting that the sales data for this year’s studio versions of Idol performances has finally been released, and that at the moment Adam Lambert has nine and a half songs in the store’s top 100 to Kris’ seven. (There’s also an errant “win” on Adam’s page, aw.) [iTunes; HT TwigLA @ MJ’s Big Blog] More »


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