Concert List

I enjoy downloading music to my PC and portable digital music player. In fact, I cannot remember the final time I has been at a music seller. I am a convert. I prefer listening to music samples on the Web and purchasing only the songs that I want and not wanting to buy an entire disc where I could prefer only a few song tracks. This is the reason why iPods from Apple PC Inc. (AAPL) have grown exponentially in popularity to the current cult status. A friend of mine received a 30GB iPod for Christmas and trust me you’ve never seen someone so excited.

A 30GB iPod might hold up to 7,500 CD  quality tunes. That’s impressive. Apple is a trendsetter in my estimation. From its MAC to the iPod, Chief Executive Officer Steve Jobs has a keen knack for trends. These portable music devices have so much memory because he might expects a massive shift to CD  burning and downloadable music. Apple’s iTunes Music Store is booming.

Just last week, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry released its research into the digital music business and the determinations weren’t a surprise. Just prefer how Web DVD movies have dominated the video rental market, dominated by Netflix Inc. (NFLX), and pushing incumbent Blockbuster Inc. (BBI) to the sidelines, the exponential growth of the Web music business has been on an explosive upward path.

According to the research, sales of digital music world wide expanded by over 300 % in 2005 to $1.1 billion. The research said digital music accounts for about 6 % of total music sales, up from extraordinarily little two years back.

The competition in the industry is fierce and expected to ramp up going forward. This can guide to consolidation in the industry down the road and result in decrease prices. we can see the bigger and more established players taking out the smaller up and comers.

Besides Apple, there are a slew of Web music web site s. Probably the most well known is Napster Inc. (NAPS). Napster reported it has over 500,000 subscribers but has yet to turn a profit and isn’t expected for the time being. But the company has minimal debt and a whopping $128 million or $2.91 per share in cash. Given that the current share price is 3.08, this implies you’re paying a mere $0.17 for the company’s asset and potential. This is pretty good and enticing for speculators, but then Napster must deliver profits. Napster may be the dark horse in the digital music business.