iTunes = 85% of Indie Digital Revenues…

It Gets Crazier: iTunes = 85% of Indie Digital Revenues…
by paul resnikoff
Monday, March 28, 2011

Last week, global independent trade group AIM stumbled upon a stunningly lopsided stat. Namely, that iTunes, Amazon, and Spotify collectively accounted for 94.4 percent of indie digital revenues, worldwide. The rest – specifically, 51 stores – were simply squeezed into the periphery.

But it gets even crazier. Because after digging a bit deeper, it turns out that iTunes is easily the biggest of those three. Perhaps that was totally obvious, though Apple makes up nearly 85 percent of digital indie revenue, worldwide, and that includes aggregated downloads, subscription, and streaming sources. And, it also leaves both Amazon and Spotify with paltry shares of roughly 5-6 percent each.

The following is a breakdown of the top 14 digital providers, as counted by AIM and submitted to the British government as part of the Hargreaves Review. The providers themselves aren’t labeled, though we confirmed that iTunes is the biggest chunk – and it makes sense. (see link)

And so what? In some senses, this makes it a whole lot easier for independents – and everyone else, for that matter – to plan their digital distribution strategies. But it also makes them beholden to Apple’s percentage demands and rules, including those related to consumer data-sharing.

/pr. Written while listening to Zoo Brazil.