iTunes

Paper Summary:

The paper states that the downloadable digital content market has grown remarkably, with millions of people going online each day to download audio and video files. The paper comments that Apple Inc.'s iTunes product has become a clear leader and pioneer in the market of organizing, playing and selling digital audio and video files. The paper discusses how iTunes was able to partner with content providers to offer copyright-protected digital files that became a significant source of revenue. The paper concludes that iTunes has been an incredibly successful and popular digital content product that will need to make changes to how it operates and what content it offers to retain its market strength in the future.

Outline:
How iTunes has Succeeded
iTunes Positions for Increased Competition
Bundling Controversy Spreading
Conclusion: Changes are Coming

From the Paper:

"Through iTunes, Apple's greatest legacy in the digital content market may be that it saw revenue opportunity where many other companies did not. Peer-sharing sites, such as Napster, which launched in 1999, had been offering music and other digital files for free to subscribers, and it seemed that consumers had become accustomed to not paying to download content ("Napster must stay shut down"). In the midst of this hostile market, where digital music had been completely devalued, Apple began developing the iTunes product to sell music files for a fee."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Angell, L.C. "iTunes revenue surges 84% in 2006." iLounge, Dec. 2006. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://ilounge.com/index.php/news/comments/comscore-itunes-revenue-surges-84-in-2006-q1-to-q3/.>
• "Apple settles iTunes lawsuit." Mac News Network, Sept. 2006. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://www.macnn.com/articles/06/09/01/itunes.lawsuit.settled/>
• Dean, Katie. "New Napster, iPod don't play nice." Wired, Oct. 2003. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://www.wired.com/entertainment/music/news/2003/10/60729>
• Gohring, Nancy. "Apple faces U.S. lawsuit over iTunes-IPod link." Computer World, Jan. 2007. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://www.computerworld.com/action/article.do?command=viewArticleBasic&articleId=9006985&source=Quigohttp%3A%2F%2Fwww.computerworld.com%2Faction%2Farticle.do%3Fcommand%3DviewArticleBasic%26articleId%3D9006985>
• Gohring, Nancy and Ames, Ben. "Wal-Mart enters digital video market with HP service." Network World, Feb. 2007. 1 Aug. 2007 <http://www.networkworld.com/news/2007/020607-wal-mart-enters-digital-video-market.html>

More papers on iTunes:

• Business Plan # 45983 : "Apple iTunes"
• Case Study # 66516 : "Apple's iTunes Music Store (iTMS)"
• Term Paper # 109352 : "NBC's Break From iTunes"
• Analytical Essay # 125010 : "iTunes and the Music Business"

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