Apple CEO Steve Jobs today said that Apple’s iTunes Music Store has the largest online catalog in the world with over 700,000 songs.
Jobs also reported that in excess of 1,000 users have already published their playlists to iTMS using iTunes’ new iMix feature.
Jobs reviewed the revised iTMS personal usage rights, which reduce the number of times for burning a single playlist from 10 to 7 times while expanding the number of authorized computers from three to five machines.
Jobs said that Apple will continue to focus on the 99-cent per song model and that the vast majority of albums available on iTMS today are $9.99. Jobs sees album prices going down, not up, over time.
Jobs also said that HP expects to ship 8 million copies of iTunes this year. Jobs also expects iTMS Europe later in 2004.
“Jobs took aim at the subscription services, saying that neither content owners, labels, or customers want subscription services. He said that users want to ‘own’ not ‘rent’ their songs. Jobs also noted that some subscription services such as Microsoft ‘Janus’ music service, do not work with playback devices,” MacNN reports. “Jobs concluded by saying the iTunes Music Store made small profit last quarter and that ‘music revolution’ is here with Apple now selling at a rate of more than 140 million a year (2.7 million per week), and although it did fall shy of its 100 million goal, the number is well ahead of what anyone would have predicted. Jobs said the complete experience (iPod, iTunes, iTunes Music Store) experience is only available from Apple and that he hopes that the iTMS drives both iPod and Mac sales.”
“‘Our next step is that we want it to make toast,’ quipped Jobs, in response to a journalist’s question about Apple’s future plans for the iPod. He said that ‘It’s the music, stupid,’ is his mantra when it comes to development of the iPod, seemingly dismissive of suggestions that Apple should integrate video and other capabilities into the device,” MacCentral reports.
“‘A year ago, if someone had predicted 70 million songs sold, they would have been laughed out of the building,’ Jobs said,’ MacMinute reports. “[Paraphrasing Jobs], burning CDs may someday look pretty primitive — burning 7 CDs fine for most honest customers. [On WMA to AAC convertor], ‘Gonna help us a lot in the Windows market,’ says Jobs.”