Author: Dan Dickinson

Derek Silvers, the president of CDBaby, was invited to the Apple indie-label presentation about the iTunes Music Store the other day, and he’s posted a lot of details that are pretty interesting to read. Such details include:

• Over 75% of the songs have sold at least once.
• 90% of sales are 1-click downloads.
• Apple is averaging 500,000 sales a week.
• There is no cost to put your music on iTunes, and there’s no up-front advance from Apple.
• All sales are reported to SoundScan, on a song-by-song basis.
• Apple won’t accept money for placement (although exclusive tracks certainly help).
• The independents are being offered the same deal as the majors.
• Top seller charts only reflect the last 24 hours(!)
• Apple pays every month.
• EVERY artist will get listed in new releases if they put something new in.
• Google is offering exclusive discounts for sponsored links into iTunes.
• Artists without a label have to go through an iTunes partner, they can’t do it themselves.

I hate this; every time I read or hear more about how this is working, I get insanely starry-eyed. I still haven’t seen Apple make a move that makes the IMS less appealing than any record store we have in town.
How is it that one company can have their shit together so well? And how is it that that one company is Apple?

When you turn 1, you’ve probably got the whole walking thing down.

When you turn 2, people stop counting how old you are in months, and you can probably talk a bit.

When you turn 3, you’re considered a “sophisticated talker”.

When you turn 4, you begin to develop personal tastes and interests.

When you turn 5, you’re ready to start school.

When you turn 7, you’ve probably started to lose some baby teeth.

When you turn 10, you’re done with elementary school.

When you turn 11, you’re a “pre-teen”.

When you turn 12, you have puberty to “look forward to”.

When you turn 13, you’re officially a teenager.

When you turn 14, you’re done with middle school.

When you turn 15, you’ve probably started dating.

When you turn 16, you can start to learn to drive.

When you turn 17, you can drive late at night, if you took Driver’s Ed.

When you turn 18, you can vote, buy cigarettes, and you’re done with high school.

When you turn 19, you realize you’re getting old because it’s your last year of being a teenager.

When you turn 20, you KNOW you’re old because it’s the first time you’ve had the tens digit on your age change.

When you turn 21, you can drink – legally, anyhow.

When you turn 22, you’re done with undergraduate college.

And when you turn 23, all you can think to do is post to your blog.

Happy birthday to me.

I predict it will be two days or less until someone has set up a “FREE MARTHA” t-shirt operation somewhere on the web.