snapshot 4/3/08

Apple takes the #1 music retailer spot from Wal-Mart, or does it?
http://arstechnica.com/news.ars/post/20080402-apple-passes-wal-mart-now-1-music-retailer-in-us.html
There's a rumor floating around this morning that Apple has surpassed Wal-Mart to become the top music retailer in the US. Ars Technica reports that Apple has sent a memo to employees showing the results of an NPD MusicWatch survey in January. There's just one problem. In February, Apple publicly stated that it was now the number two music seller in the US.

As Engadget points out, there may have been a spike in January because a whole bunch of people picked up new iPods and iPod gift cards for the holidays in Decemeber. Suffice it to say, if Apple was really the top music retailer in the country right now, they wouldn't be passing around an internal memo. They'd be sending out press releases with pictures of Steve Jobs stepping on a smiley face with blood poring out of its nose. Wait, smiley faces don't usually have noses, do they?


MySpace forms music joint venture with big labels
N ews Corp MySpace, the world's largest social network Web site, said on Thursday it has formed a joint venture with three major music companies called MySpace Music. The joint venture will include Vivendi's Universal Music Group, Sony BMG Music Entertainment and Warner Music Group as minority stake holders in the new company. The new company will offer free music audio and video streaming supported by advertising, paid-for MP3 downloads, ringtones, artist ticket sales and merchandise.


eMusic Adds Rolling Stones ABKCO Catalog
In a coup for eMusic, the DRM-free download service has the entire 28 album Rolling Stones ABKCO catalog available to its subscribers. The bulk of the material was first released between 1964 and 1969 and includes most of the bands hugely successful early input.


First Quarter Country Sales Slide
First quarter 2008 ended with country album sales down 11.3%, compared to overall music sales which fell 10.7% according to Nielsen SoundScan. Top Current Country Albums for the week ending 3/30/08 reaped a total of 324,895 units, a stark contrast to last year’s total of 774,000 units—bolstered by a Tim McGraw debut (325k units). Not unexpectedly, country market share remains flat at 10.3%, nudging downward from last year’s 10.4%.


Album sales decline, but is the slump slowing?
Album sales for the first quarter of 2008 are down by double digits, but that's significantly less than 2007's decline. So there's more than one way to look at the results.

For the glass-half-empty crowd, this year's numbers continue a trend that has seen album sales tumble from 140.4 million in 2006's first quarter to 104.5 million this year, according to Nielsen SoundScan — a drop of more than 25% in two years. For the Mr. Brightside contingent, the decline from 2007 is 11%, compared with a 17% first-quarter drop a year ago.


Apple Confirms #1 Music Retailer Status With Four Billion Songs Sold
April 3, 2008—Apple® today announced that the iTunes® Store (www.itunes.com) surpassed Wal-Mart to become the number one music retailer in the US, based on the latest data from the NPD Group*. With over 50 million customers, iTunes has sold over four billion songs and features the world's largest music catalog of over six million songs.


Metrolyrics adopts Gracenote authorized lyrics service
MetroLyrics, one of the largest online sites to search for and find song lyrics, has just announced the addition of Gracenote's catalog of lyrics into its existing database. In case you didn't know, Gracenote is currently the largest database of licensed (read: accurate) song lyrics out there, and has agreements with the big dogs: EMI, Universal/BMG, Sony/ATV, and Warner/Chappell.


Napster Touts Revenue Gains; Profitability, Licensing Questions Remain
Napster continues to boost revenues, but profit and licensing issues remain. Ahead of a formal earnings call, the company pointed to recent-quarter earnings of $31 million, a figure that falls at the high end of earlier guidance. It also spells a revenue record level of $127 million for the fiscal year ending March 31st, boosted by a subscriber base of roughly 760,000.

The group also pointed to a third-place, revenue-based ranking among competing music stores. The ranking was recently offered by MultiMedia Intelligence head Mark Kirstein, formerly an analyst at both iSuppli and In-Stat. The revenue picture offers some encouragement, though profitability and licensing issues are clouding the picture. During the recent, third quarter ending December 31st, Napster posted a loss of $9.5 million, a substantial sum. On the positive side, that represents a narrower drop from a year-ago loss of $17.0 million.

Separately, the company is now pushing to convert its catalog into a DRM-free offering. The company initially offered guidance for a transition this quarter, though recent executive comments suggest a slower-than-expected licensing process. On Thursday morning, a representative reaffirmed a current-quarter transition schedule to Digital Music News.