iTunes and the Tipping Point

The first people that I knew who had a first generation iPod were two guys in the IT field. I have to admit, at first glance I didn't know what it did or what it was for. They showed me how it worked and they also explained what it would mean for the industry and what it would probably do for Apple's stock. Not only do I own an iPod, but I have bought over 300 songs in the past few years.

Malcolm Gladwell's famous book "The Tipping Point" explains this type of social phenomenon. I bought my iPod, which also led to downloading 300 songs, because of this interaction, and so did hundreds of thousands of other consumers. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend it no matter what your area of expertise.

Below is an article that appeared in Mediaweek about the growth of the iPod and iTunes since its inception.

"iTunes Soars 241% to 20 Mil. U.S. HHDs"
by Mike Shields, Mediaweek
January 19, 2006

More than 20 million households have downloaded Apple's iTunes music store, representing close to 14 percent of the total U.S. Internet population, according to new figures released by Nielsen//NetRatings.

The number of iTunes users soared in 2005 by 241 percent, going from 6.1 million unique users in December 2004 to 20.7 million in December 2005.

As for demographics, the iTunes audience has a high composition of teens: 12- to 17-year-olds are almost twice as likely to visit the store, according to Nielsen//NetRatings.

Of course, in the past several months, following the launch of Apple's video iPod, the iTunes store has become an important outlet not only for music but for traditional broadcast TV networks. Both ABC and NBC have begun selling episodes of their hit series through the store for $1.99 per episode.