iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a global Internet trading platform for music videos, films, TV series and e-books from the US company Apple . It is available in English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Japanese.
Apple has been using the infrastructure since 2008 to offer programs for iOS devices such as the iPhone under the name of App Store . At the beginning of 2011, Apple expanded the offer with the Mac App Store for Mac OS X programs.
Until September 21, 2006, the iTunes Store was operated under the name iTunes Music Store . The owner is Apple Inc. and the Apple subsidiaries iTunes S.à.rl in Europe and iTunes KK in Japan. The iTunes Store is one of the world's leading online music platforms.
function
The iTunes Store started on April 28, 2003, initially in the US with more than 200,000 titles from all areas, including a. Classic , rock , pop , rap , jazz , new age , audio books and many more. The iTunes Store uses the MP4 format , AAC audio coding with an initial bit rate of 128 kbit / s and the FairPlay DRM system . The purchased titles can be saved and played on up to five computers at the same time using Apple's iTunes jukebox software . In addition, within the licensing model offered by Apple, they can be loaded onto any number of iPods and saved in a playlist , i.e. H. in the same composition of the pieces of music, can be burned up to five times on audio CDs . In addition, the cover of the title or album is downloaded. The FairPlay DRM system ensures that the music can only be played with iTunes, Apple TV, Motorola's iTunes mobile phone, the iPhone and all iPods, with the exception of CDs you have burned yourself. The iTunes Music Store from Apple is also used as a marketing platform for the iPod and also for one's own computer.
The use of the iTunes Store requires the iTunes program , which can be downloaded free of charge from Apple for Mac OS X as well as Windows 2000 , XP , Vista , Windows 7 and Windows 8 . The database search as well as the preview of the pieces of music (90 seconds in full quality) is possible for all users. The standard price in Germany and Austria was 0.99 per piece of music and 9.99 euros for an album, while in Switzerland it was 1.50 and 15 francs respectively. DRM-free titles were offered in the “iTunes Plus” offer with a bit rate of 256 kbit / s for the same price of EUR 0.99 each.
On January 6, 2009, the range of DRM-free titles was expanded to 80% of the catalog. The remaining 20% was converted in the second quarter of 2009. In addition, a new pricing model was introduced on this date: 69 US cents for older titles, 99 US cents for current tracks and 1.29 dollars for new "hits". In Switzerland, the price was set at 1.00, 1.50 and 2 francs when it was introduced. In 2015 it was 0.90, 1.50 and 1.90 francs. The iTunes Store can also be accessed via a mobile Internet connection on the iPhone.
Depending on the country, purchases can be made via credit card, gift voucher (iTunes card), direct debit (in Germany until April 2016 via ClickandBuy ), using a prepaid card or via a third-party provider who processes the transaction (e.g. PostFinance mobile), possible.
In addition to selling music, the iTunes Store Apple now serves as a distribution channel for a wide range of digital content such as films, TV series, music videos and e-books. The American rival company Google is trying to create a similar platform through the Play Store , mainly for users of their mobile Android operating system. However, the offer here is currently significantly lower and some offers are not available from Germany.
history
The sales platform was initially set up in 2003 for the sale of music in the USA . Since June 2004, it has also included buyers in Great Britain , France and Germany . In October 2004, nine other countries were included, Austria , Belgium , Finland , Greece , Italy , Luxembourg , the Netherlands , Portugal and Spain . Canada joined in December 2004. In May 2005 Apple extended the platform to Switzerland , Norway , Denmark and Sweden . The Australian market was intended to open together with the four European ones, but was postponed for licensing reasons. On August 4, 2005, the offer was extended to Japan. As of January 2010, the platform is sold in 77 countries.
Initially, the trading platform in Germany only sold performers who had their contracts with large music labels . Performers from the independent sector were added later . Apple offered a total of over 5 million titles in Europe. The offer differs in the individual countries. The number of titles in the US in June 2008 was around 8 million titles. Apple is constantly adding to the offers.
Apple currently sells around 3 million titles a day worldwide and the trend is increasing.
At the beginning of October 2008, the Association of the Music Industry demanded that license fees be increased by 66 percent from 9 to 15 cents. Apple did not want to give in to the demand: “Apple has repeatedly made it clear that it wants to make money in this business. Apple is not willing to continue to operate the iTunes Store if it is no longer profitable. ”A vote took place on October 3rd, 2008 at the Copyright Royalty Board . According to the industry association NMPA, the royalty rate remains at 9.1 cents per song.
Milestones
| date | milestone |
|---|---|
| October 12, 2005 | The iTunes Music Store starts selling videos. 2,000 music videos, Pixar shorts, and TV series (US only) are available for download. |
| September 12, 2006 | The iTunes Music Store became the iTunes Store; now there are also films (initially only USA) and games (worldwide) on offer. |
| September 20, 2006 | After a week, over 125,000 films were sold in the USA, although the offer was initially limited to 75 films from Disney , Pixar , Touchstone Pictures and Miramax Films . |
| January 9, 2007 | The range of feature films has been expanded by 100 titles from Paramount Pictures . |
| April 2, 2007 | Apple and EMI Music state that they will be selling DRM-free pieces of music and videos from May and will increase the bitrate of DRM-free tracks to 256 kBit / s. |
| April 2, 2008 | TV series are now also available in Germany. |
| January 6, 2009 | 80% of the catalog is available without DRM. |
| April 16, 2009 | At the start of the feature film offering in Germany, over 500 films, some in HD quality ( 720p ), are available for Apple TV. Movies can be bought and rented. |
| Sold songs |
date |
|---|---|
| 100 million | July 12, 2004 |
| 500 million | July 18, 2005 |
| 1 billion | February 23, 2006 |
| 2 billion | January 9, 2007 |
| 3 billion | July 31, 2007 |
| 4 billion | February 26, 2008 |
| 5 billion | June 19, 2008 |
| 6 billion | January 6, 2009 |
| 8 billion | July 21, 2009 |
| 10 billion | February 24, 2010 |
| 15 billion | June 6, 2011 |
| date | milestone |
|---|---|
| October 31, 2005 | Over 1 million music videos have been downloaded |
| December 6, 2005 | Over 100 million songs have been downloaded from European music stores |
| August 2, 2006 | Over 200 million songs sold in European music stores |
| January 9, 2007 | 50 million TV series episodes and 1.3 million feature films were sold |
| October 16, 2008 | 200 million TV series episodes,> 1 million TV series episodes (HD) and 2 million feature films were sold |
| June 29, 2010 | The Open University is the first university in the world to have 20 million downloads on iTunes U. |
| November 16, 2010 | After a long license dispute with EMI Records, Apple has announced that it will be selling the entire work of The Beatles in the iTunes Store with immediate effect. |
| App downloads | date |
|---|---|
| 100 million | September 9, 2008 |
| 500 million | January 16, 2009 |
| 1 billion | April 23, 2009 |
| 2 billion | September 28, 2009 |
| 10 billion | January 22, 2011 |
| 15 billion | July 7, 2011 |
| 25 billion | March 5, 2012 |
| 50 billion | May 15, 2013 |
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ http://www.apple.com/de/support/itunes/legal/about.html
- ↑ http://www.apple.com/jp/support/itunes-en/legal/about.html
- ↑ Apple Inc .: Developments in the iTunes Store , January 6, 2009, accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ Blick: The new iTunes prices are here! , April 7, 2009, accessed January 26, 2015
- ↑ Macprime.ch: Apple lowers prices for music in the Swiss iTunes Store , January 23, 2015, accessed on January 26, 2015
- ↑ Article on the possible early launch of Google Play Music in Germany on AndroidPit.de, accessed on August 16, 2012
- ↑ Apple press release from June 19, 2008
- ↑ Higher license fees: Apple threatens to close iTunes ( Memento from December 4, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Apple gives in - and lets iTunes live
- ↑ iTunes now with series downloads also in Germany ( Memento from September 10, 2012 in the web archive archive.today )
- ↑ Apple iTunes Germany now with HD films for rent on HDTVTotal.com
- ↑ 20 million downloads from the Open University
- ↑ https://www.heise.de/newsticker/meldung/Beatles-haben-spaetes-Debuet-bei-iTunes-1137412.html