Putting a side the fact that everyone spins statistics in the best way for them. Steve Jobs announcement today about the iTunes Store having 88% of the legal music market. Coupled with the knowledge that in July that eMusic was claiming to have 11% of that market. Leads me to the obvious conclusion that Microsoft’s music strategy to this point has been a complete and total failure.
Microsoft’s move with the Zune has been something that in my opinion lacked a good explanation. Why start over from zero when PlayForSure is out there fighting it out? It looks like the answer is that PFS is so close to zero that they might as well start something new. In May an Ars Technica article stated the iTS had 61% with eMusic at 12%. USA Today in July had an article that gives 67% to the iTS and 11% to eMusic. It doesn’t look like most of the iTS growth came from eMusic. I’m sure the vast majority of eMusic users understand the benefit of it’s music being DRM free. Still at 88% I’m going to assume that the iTS is taking from everybody. So I’m going to guess that eMusic lost a couple more points. That leaves us with iTS at 88% plus eMusic at 9% with everyone else fighting over 1-3% in the U.S.
This also gives more weight to the idea that the way to compete with Apple and the iTS is not by selling DRM RIAA music. The iTS does that and does it well. The way to compete is to sale none DRM music that can play on the iPod. This is what eMusic is doing and they are doing very well compared to everyone else that’s competing with Apple. Not only is Apple in control but their nearest competitor is no threat in the DRM race. My ideas about RealNetworks are now all void because I just don’t see how they can make them self a player again.
The RIAA deserves the screwing that Steve Jobs will give them as the iTS increasingly becomes the only place people buy DRM music. They will either have to bend over and take it like the bastards they are. Or admit that DRM doesn’t work and kill it for good. The better eMusic does the harder a time the RIAA will have of arguing that the iTS is the only place they have to sell their music on line. It sweet justice that the RIAA hopes of a world where people had to buy new music when they bought a new player. Has back fired on them and they are waking up to a monster of their own making in Apple and the iTS.
