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Top 10 Digital Music Stories Of 2007

by bhoughton on December 30th, 2007

Music sales dropped 15% or more over 2006.  Sales were down 21% in the week before Christmas alone. But 2007 was the year that fans regained control of the music.

  1. Three of the four top label groups (EMI, Universal, and and last week WMG) stopped adding restrictive software to their downloads. This means 80% of all hit music is now available DRM free.
  2. Amazon.com opened an all mp3 store where every track you buy is playable on any brand of player and can be burned to a CD.
  3. Amazon, WalMart.com and others dropped the price of many downloads below the 99 cents that iTunes’ charges to 89 cents and 88 cents respectively.
  4. Music went mobile.  The release of the iPhone forced other phone makers to add more music features to all cell phones.
  5. The competition among portable players heated up. iPods got cheaper with some models getting bigger hard drives. Microsofts’ Zune gained traction as an iPod alternative.
  6. The rise of personalized net radio. Tell Pandora or Last.fm what kind of music you like and you can create your free own customized stream.
  7. A growing number artists from Madonna and The Eagles to scores of indie rock bands dropped their record labels to reach out to fans in new more direct ways using the internet. Radiohead went so far as to offer downloads of their new album at whatever price fans thought was fair. Many grabbed it free, but millions paid $5 or more.
  8. The RIAA stepped up its legal actions against fans who trade music on the net particularly targeting colleges. Despite these efforts Bit torrent and Limewire usage grew.
  9. More great local record stores closed.
  10. Concert giant Live Nation fired Ticketmaster (known for high ticketing fees) and promised its own ticketing system by Jan 1st 2009.

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POSTED IN: Downloads/P2P, Free Or Cheap, Internet Broadcasting, Live Music, Mobile, Portable Players, iTunes/iPhone

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