Posted by & filed under Part 1 Business in a Global Environment, Part 4: Marketing Management.

Description:  A decade ago, the newly started iTunes Store gave away a song called Over My Head (Cable Car) by an obscure Denver rock group called The Fray. That was, explains lead guitarist Joe King, the band’s big break. “I’ll never forget, our manager e-mailed and said there had been 300,000 downloads,” says King. “Immediately our fan base went from several hundred to thousands, everywhere. Our tour started selling out.” These days, iTunes doesn’t offer that kind of overnight success for undiscovered musicians, despite its 435 million registered users.

Source:  Businessweek.com

Date: Apr 25, 2013

Link: http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-04-25/apples-10-year-old-itunes-loses-ground-to-streaming

Questions for Discussions:

  • How has the online music business model changed since iTunes began?
  • Do you agree with the comment that today’s music customer wants “access” rather than ownership of music?
  • What does that mean in terms of the services and features consumers look for from online vendors?
  • Why do you suppose Apple has neglected the iTunes site?

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