Support Our Site
Get Better Gear!
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App from Ginger Labs, Inc, US$0.99
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful from Scosche, US$129.99
- IPEVO’s Typi Folio Case & Keyboard for iPad is First-rate from IPEVO, US$79.99
- Scosche’s boomSTREAM BT Speaker: Features & Compromises from Scosche, US$99.95
- FX Photo Studio HD: iPad Painting of Effects Made Easy from MacPhun LLC, US1.99
Top 5 Free Apps
iTunes New Music Releases
Top 5 Paid Apps
Discover New Music
- Ray LaMontagne
At first, Ray LaMontagne might strike you as just another breathy-voiced knockoff of folk/rock guitarists like John Mayer and Jack Johnson. But he's actually got a better voice than either, he tell
- Tegan and Sara
So Jealous is the third album from these sisters, and easily the one to single out for an introduction to their music. Some people may not get on board with their vocal styles, which are slightly
- Prefuse 73
- It's an album about a breakup, done with beats instead of mopey lyrics. But the beats are raw, and the emotions are there, even if there aren't many words on top of it. While possibly not Scott Herren
- R.E.M.
- In the long series of R.E.M.'s evolution, this album (finally?) showcases their ability to capture on tape what had been happening in the live for years: heartfelt, sweat-filled performances that just
Live at the Magic Bag, Ferndale, MI
- Supersuckers
- Man, there's nothing like good, old fashioned, rock and roll... add a bit of industry resentment to that with a double-shot of cynicism, and you get one of the best "new" rock bands going. This album
Reader Specials
Visit Deals On The Web for the best deals on all consumer electronics, iPods, and more!
News
U.S. Music Downloads Skyrocket in 2006
Sunday, July 9th, 2006 at 3:00 PM - by Jeff Gamet
CD sales may be dropping, but music download sales are on a sharp rise this year. The BBC reports that legitimate U.S. music download sales jumped 77 percent in the first half of 2006.
Even though 14 million full album downloads where purchased, compared to the 6.5 million for the same period last year, consumers still prefer purchasing just the songs they want. Most music buyers don't like purchasing full albums just to get the one or two songs they really want.
"Digital distribution is an answer to the consumer who's been throwing up that complaint," commented Geoff Mayfield, director of charts for music magazine Billboard.
The company that's reaping most of the benefits of the surge in online music sales is Apple Computer. The company's iTunes Music Store holds about 73 percent of the U.S. market.
Apple's gain, however, comes as traditional music sales continue to slip. CD sales have dropped 4.2 percent in 2006. But instead of erosion to music download sales, Mr. Mayfield thinks this loss is the result of a lack of hits.
He said "Considering that you haven't had a 50 Cent to be the Pied Piper during the first half of the year or a Norah Jones the year before that, being behind 4% in album sales is really not that bad."
Recent Headlines
- Reading, Writing, & Saving the World
- Free Retro Gaming for iOS - Activision’s Kaboom!
- Apple Adds Chomp Bits to iOS 6 App Store Discovery
- Notability For iPad: Much More Than A Note Taking App
- Scosche’s RH656m Headphones With Microphone Are Wonderful
- Tim Cook & Larry Page Reportedly Discuss Patents
- Analysis: Amazon Kindle Fire Sold Out, Kindle Fire 2 Pic Leaked
Post Your Comments