MAZEL TOV: iTunes sold its 10 billionth song last week and in honor of that milestone, AOL Radio Blog has a list of the service's 10 Most Downloaded Songs of All Time with the top song being of no surprise to anyone who has been to a wedding, bar mitzvah, christening, prom, or chili cook-off in the last nine months.
The lucky 10 billionth song purchaser, Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who downloaded "Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash, won a $10,000 iTunes gift card, which made me ask my wife what cash equivalent would you take for a $10,000 iTunes gift card (I think I would gladly rather have $500 cash), she, of course, would rather dole out smaller gift cards for the rest of her life to everyone she knows. How's bout you?
And while you're thinking about that, in honor of the start of meteorological spring, enjoy AOL Radio Blog's 10 Best Surf Songs.
I'm with your wife -- I'd divide that gift card into a bunch of smaller ones for gifts and keep some for myself. My uncle gives me a $50 itunes gift card for Hanukkah every year, and it takes me about 2-3 weeks max to spend it, so I would happily make a dent in a 10K one.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised "Don't Stop Believin'" is not on this list of mostpdownloaded song. (It's absence from the Surf Songs list, however, does not surprise me.)
ReplyDeleteI don't think that's right Adam, I think the award is valuable. I would take the $10,000 gift card and get rid of cable and just order all of the tv shows and movies I wanted to see from itunes for a couple of years. Between the two houses, the cable bill is like $400 a month, so that's a real savings (although part of those bills are internet and/or phone). Figured out recently how to hook my mac to a tv to show downloaded movies and tv shows in hd and this seems like a reason I could give up the cable if the content were "free". Oh yeah, and if I were as nice as Jen I would give some of the money away as gift cards too, yeah, that's the ticket. Of course as many of you know, I am fully indoctrinated into Apple culture. Love that Steve Jobs.
ReplyDeleteOdd. While I have listened to the Black Eyed Peas on the radio and a sports venues and such many, many times (apparently). That was the first time I ever listened to a Black Eyed Peas song knowing that it was a Black Eyed Peas song. I had never put the band and the music together in the same set of neurons. I just always assumed that they sounded something like the Black Crowes.
ReplyDeleteAlex is not me. I am not him.
ReplyDeleteI'm surprised that at least one pre-2008 song isn't on the list, which I think speaks to an ever-increasing (exponential?) grown in iPod usage over CDs. Daniel Powter's "Bad Day"?
ReplyDeleteThe rest of the top 25:
11. "Disturbia" by Rihanna
12. "So What" by P!nk
13. "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry
14. "Single Ladies (Put a Ring On It)" by Beyoncé
15. "Hot N Cold" by Katy Perry
16. "Stronger" by Kanye West
17. "Live Your Life" (feat. Rihanna) by T.I.
18. "Hey There Delilah" by Plain White T's
19. "Right Round" by Flo Rida
20. "Party In the U.S.A." by Miley Cyrus
21. "Don't Stop Believin'" by Journey
22. "Bad Romance" by Lady Gaga
23. "Use Somebody" by Kings of Leon
24. "Fireflies" by Owl City
25. "How to Save a Life" by The Fray.<span><span></span><span></span></span>
I order a LOT off of iTunes. That $10,000 gift card would not last long over here.
ReplyDeleteThat said, I'd buy a lot of independent stuff -- just about everyone at my level is putting out their albums on iTunes through Tunecore or CDBaby, and I prefer buying their stuff this way, for a lot of reasons:
a) Whenever I try to buy a peer's album from them, there's this polite dance about "Oh, why don't we just trade, you can give me your next one when it comes out," or "You shouldn't have to pay for this," blah blah. It's the musician version of putting your hand on the check at the end of a meal, then pulling-pushing until it's settled. I'd rather just plop the money down, so I value the thing.
b) If I buy it off of iTunes, they don't know that I've bought it. If I love it, I can compliment them on it and surprise them with my familiarity with their record (if I like something, I listen to it A LOT). If I don't, I can just pretend I've never heard it and everybody stays friends.
c) I don't end up with another CD in my cramped bedroom in Queens.
Also, I've been catching up with a lot of artists that have fallen off of my radar, that have still been putting out great stuff. Did you know Me'Shell N'Degeocello has been putting out an album almost every year? I didn't, and Peace Beyond Passion is one of my favorite albums ever. So I'd buy her catalogue, plus anything I'm missing from Aimee Mann, maybe toss in some newer Nanci Griffith, isn't there a new Patti Griffin out? Also, I'm pretty sure I don't have Weezer's Maladroit for some reason, then there's....
No, sorry, I'll stop myself there. I could totally spend $10,000 in a few days if it were unconditionally allocated to iTunes purchases.
Yeah, I'll probably spend between $300 and $500 over a year on iTunes; add in Spacewoman and we're looking at somewhere between $500 and a grand. $10,000 is more than I need, but I wouldn't cash it out on the cheap. For better or for worse, as Tabachneck says, iTunes is the most comprehensive independent record store in the world.
ReplyDeleteI would be happy to say that I own only one of the top 20 (Don't Stop Believin,' which is still the weirdest entry on the list, since it comes from my own childhood), but California's community property laws tell me that I also am the owner of an undivided half-interest in Single Ladies and possibly Delilah.
It's funny that somebody from Georgia won the $10,000. Judging from the list, there aren't that many country music-loving adults who use iTunes.
ReplyDeleteUnless of course this blog all springs from your imagination as you spend hour after hour staring into a snow globe.
ReplyDelete4 of the Top 10, 9 more in 15-25. Interesting and somewhat surprising that teenpop isn't more there--only the one Miley song, no Justin Bieber or similar.
ReplyDeleteI buy tons of stuff on itunes and Amazon MP3 (broke the 10K song number about a month ago), so I'm sure that I could enjoy $10K worth of itunes gift card. It would probably take me longer than a few days, though. I'm also wonder what the tax effect of this would be.
ReplyDeleteI own, I think, four of the songs in the top 25. Mock not, people. Of course I was going to purchase Viva la Vida and I'm Yours---well, actually, the whole albums---does that seriously surprise any of you? And I finally did succumb and buy Taylor Swift's oeuvre, dammit. I know that she can't hit notes worth a damn, but her songs are just so damn catchy.
Oh, and one of the other ones got swept up as I was working on a new playlist: Songs to Drive Simon Cowell Crazy. My sister guessed the theme in one go. How about y'all? If there's interest, I could probably be persuaded to publish the playlist, but I first need to consult with my sister to make sure that I didn't miss anything that must be included.
If you're unhappy with the iTunes experience (I've come to dislike it more and more over time), check out the amazon mp3 store, IMO it's much better, and you can still install the music over iTunes.
ReplyDeleteDoes Authority Zero count as surf music? Because I found them randomly in college and have come to love them over the last couple of years... but I've never bothered to look for anything else similar to them. They might be more ska, I guess?
Also, I wonder how Cash would respond to this news, if he would even know what iTunes is.
Amazon MP3 is also more conducive to DJing and sampling.
ReplyDeleteThere was a feature on him on Diane Sawyer's news cast and he was ADORABLE! Steve Jobs actually called him to tell him he won, and he said that when the phone caller said this is Steve Jobs his response was, "Sure you are," very sarcastically. He seemed very sweet and overwhelmed by that much itunes.
ReplyDeleteAmazon MP3 is also very eager to take market share from itunes, so you can sometimes get ridiculous deals on albums there. My succumbing to the Taylor Swift oeuvre was greatly abetted by the fact that both of her CDs were on sale for $5 apiece, and then I had a coupon code for $3 bucks off of any MP3 purchases. $7 for both was just too much for my poor willpower, really.
ReplyDeleteDo kids still get CDs as gifts? Maybe parents are buying the Miley/Justin CDs as gifts for their kids instead of downloading. Also, does the list include full album purchases? Maybe all the Miley fans are completists and want the B sides in addition to the singles.
ReplyDeleteJenn: yes, please.
ReplyDeleteSounds like what happens to us when we make admissions phone calls. About half the people I've called to tell them they've been admitted don't believe I'm who I say I am. With a few of them I have to do the American President thing and tell them to call the number on our website, ask for the admissions office, and then ask for me. A few have snarled things like, "I told you it's not funny, dude - quit calling me!"
ReplyDeleteAmazon MP3s also pay the artist more per download. I don't know why. Well, I have an idea why.
ReplyDeleteYes, yes, please!
ReplyDeletePlease do publish it.
ReplyDeleteI am deeply suspicious. The top 10 songs are a billion downloads of 2009 and 2010 incredipopular songs, and the randomly selected 10 billionth song purchaser is someone downloading a Johnny Cash song from 1958? I guess things happen that way ... when you're rigging them to.
ReplyDelete