![ITunes Music Store in a mobile Phone](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/ITunes_Music_Store_in_a_mobile_Phone.jpg)
A music download (commonly referred to as a digital download) is the
digital transfer of music via the
Internet
The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a
personal computer
A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
,
portable media player,
MP3 player or
smartphone
A smartphone is a portable computer device that combines mobile telephone and computing functions into one unit. They are distinguished from feature phones by their stronger hardware capabilities and extensive mobile operating systems, whic ...
. This term encompasses both legal
download
In computer networks, download means to ''receive'' data from a remote system, typically a server such as a web server, an FTP server, an email server, or other similar system. This contrasts with uploading, where data is ''sent to'' a remote ...
s and downloads of
copyright
A copyright is a type of intellectual property that gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display, and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. The creative work may be in a literary, artistic, educatio ...
ed material without permission or legal payment. According to a
Nielsen report, downloadable music accounted for 55.9 percent of all
music sales in the US in 2012.
["All music sales" refers to albums plus track equivalent
albums. A track equivalent album equates to 10 tracks.] By the beginning of 2011, Apple's
iTunes Store
The iTunes Store is a digital media store operated by Apple Inc. It opened on April 28, 2003, as a result of Steve Jobs' push to open a digital marketplace for music. As of April 2020, iTunes offered 60 million songs, 2.2 million apps, 25,00 ...
alone made 1.1 billion of revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year. Music downloads are typically encoded with
modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT)
audio data compression
In information theory, data compression, source coding, or bit-rate reduction is the process of encoding information using fewer bits than the original representation. Any particular compression is either lossy or lossless. Lossless compressi ...
, particularly the
Advanced Audio Coding
Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression. Designed to be the successor of the MP3 format, AAC generally achieves higher sound quality than MP3 encoders at the same bit rate.
AAC has been stan ...
(AAC) format used by iTunes as well as the
MP3
MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...
audio coding format
An audio coding format (or sometimes audio compression format) is a content representation format for storage or transmission of digital audio (such as in digital television, digital radio and in audio and video files). Examples of audio coding ...
.
Online music store
Paid downloads are sometimes encoded with
digital rights management that restricts copying the music or playing purchased songs on certain digital audio players. They are almost always
compressed using a
lossy
In information technology, lossy compression or irreversible compression is the class of data compression methods that uses inexact approximations and partial data discarding to represent the content. These techniques are used to reduce data size ...
codec
A codec is a device or computer program that encodes or decodes a data stream or signal. ''Codec'' is a portmanteau of coder/decoder.
In electronic communications, an endec is a device that acts as both an encoder and a decoder on a signal or ...
(usually MPEG-1 Layer 3, Windows Media, or AAC), which reduces file size and bandwidth requirements. These music resources have been created as a response to expanding technology and needs of customers who wanted easy, quick access to music. Their business models respond to the "download revolution" by making legal services attractive for users.
Even legal music downloads have faced a number of challenges from artists, record labels and the
Recording Industry Association of America. In July 2007, the Universal Music Group decided not to renew their long-term contracts with iTunes. This decision was primarily based on the issue of pricing of songs, as Universal wanted to be able to charge more or less depending on the artist, a shift away from iTunes' standard—at the time—99 cents per song pricing. Many industry leaders feel that this is only the first of many show-downs between
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company ...
and the various record labels.
According to research by the website
TorrentFreak
__NOTOC__
TorrentFreak (TF) is a blog dedicated to reporting the latest news and trends on the BitTorrent protocol and file sharing, as well as on copyright infringement and digital rights.
The website was started in November 2005 by a Dutchma ...
, 38 percent of Swedish artists support file share downloading and claim that it helps artists in early career stages. Artists, including Swedish rock group Lamont, have profited from file sharing.
RIAA against illegal downloading
The
Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) oversees about 85 percent of published music production, distribution and manufacturing in the United States. Their stated goal is to support artists' creativity and help them not be cheated out of money by illegal downloading.
The Recording Industry Association of America launched its first lawsuits on 8 September 2003, against individuals who illegally downloaded music files from the
Kazaa FastTrack
FastTrack is a peer-to-peer (P2P) protocol that was used by the Kazaa, Grokster, iMesh and Morpheus file sharing programs. FastTrack was the most popular file sharing network in 2003, and used mainly for the exchange of music mp3 files. The ne ...
network.
Two years after it began, the campaign survived at least one major legal challenge. The RIAA said it filed 750 suits in February 2006
against individuals downloading music files without paying for them in hopes of putting an end to Internet
music piracy
Music piracy is the copying and distributing of recordings of a piece of music for which the rights owners (composer, recording artist, or copyright-holding record company) did not give consent. In the contemporary legal environment, it is a form ...
. The RIAA hopes their campaign will force people to respect the copyrights of music labels and eventually minimize the number of illegal downloads.
The
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
began to incorporate downloads in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
on 17 April 2005, at which time Radio 1 stopped broadcasting the separate download chart, although the chart is still compiled. Initially this was on condition that the song must have a physical media release at the same time; this rule was fully lifted on 1 January 2007, meaning all download sales are now eligible in the chart.
Sales records
United Kingdom
Music downloads have been measured by the
Official Charts Company
The Official Charts (legal name: The Official UK Charts Company Limited) is a British inter-professional organization that compiles various "official" record charts in the United Kingdom, Ireland and France.
In the United Kingdom, its charts inc ...
since 2004 and included in the main
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
from 2005. As of September 2014, the most downloaded song in the UK was "
Happy" by
Pharrell Williams, with over 1.8 million downloads.
United States
In November 2005, the record for the best-selling downloaded single in the United States was held by
Gwen Stefani's "
Hollaback Girl
"Hollaback Girl" is a song by American singer-songwriter Gwen Stefani from her debut solo studio album, '' Love. Angel. Music. Baby.'' (2004). It is a hip-hop song that draws influence from 1980s hip-hop and dance music. The song was written ...
", which sold over one million downloads, making it the first song to achieve platinum download status.
, the record for the best-selling downloaded single in the United States on the iTunes Store is held by
The Black Eyed Peas
Black Eyed Peas (also known as The Black Eyed Peas) is an American musical group consisting of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap, Taboo. The group's line-up during the height of their popularity in the 2000s featured Fergie, who replaced Kim Hi ...
's "
I Gotta Feeling
"I Gotta Feeling" is a song recorded by American group the Black Eyed Peas for their fifth studio album '' The E.N.D.'' (2009). It was written by the group members with the song's producers David Guetta and Frédéric Riesterer. The song was re ...
", which has sold over 8 million downloads.
Soon after his death in 2009,
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as one of the most significant cultural figures of the 20th century. Over a ...
became the first artist to sell over one million songs downloaded via the Internet in one week. However,
Adele
Adele Laurie Blue Adkins (, ; born 5 May 1988), professionally known by the mononym Adele, is an English singer and songwriter. After graduating in arts from the BRIT School in 2006, Adele signed a rec ...
marks the most downloads sold by a single song in a week, with "
Hello
''Hello'' is a salutation or greeting in the English language. It is first attested in writing from 1826. Early uses
''Hello'', with that spelling, was used in publications in the U.S. as early as the 18 October 1826 edition of the '' Norwich ...
" selling 1.12 million copies in November 2015.
Eminem
Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem (; often stylized as EMINƎM), is an American rapper and record producer. He is credited with popularizing hip hop in middle America and is critically acclai ...
's seventh studio album, ''
Recovery
Recovery or Recover may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Books
* ''Recovery'' (novel), a Star Wars e-book
* Recovery Version, a translation of the Bible with footnotes published by Living Stream Ministry
Film and television
* ''Recovery'' (fil ...
'' (2010), became the first album to sell one million digital copies.
Beyoncé's self-titled
fifth studio album became the fastest-selling album within 24 hours in iTunes history after its release in December 2013. Within 24 hours of availability, the album sold 430,000 digital copies. Adele's third studio album ''25'' became the fastest-selling album in a week in iTunes history after it was released on 20 November 2015. It sold 1.64 million digital copies in its first week (included preorders on the iTunes store since the release of the album's lead single "Hello" in October 2015).
Japan
In 2006, the
Recording Industry Association of Japan
The is an industry trade group composed of Japanese corporations involved in the music industry. It was founded in 1942 as the Japan Phonogram Record Cultural Association, and adopted its current name in 1969.
The RIAJ's activities include pr ...
began issuing certifications for digitally released music in Japan, compiling data from the early 2000s onwards.
The best-selling song is
Fukushima
may refer to:
Japan
* Fukushima Prefecture, Japanese prefecture
** Fukushima, Fukushima, capital city of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan
***Fukushima University, national university in Japan
*** Fukushima Station (Fukushima) in Fukushima, Fukushim ...
-based vocal group
Greeeen
Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN) is a Japanese vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the all-male four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH.
They made their debut with Universal Music in 2007. Their logo image i ...
's song "
Kiseki" (2008), which was certified for being legally downloaded four million times between 2008 and 2015,
followed by R&B singer
Thelma Aoyama
is a Japanese pop and R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadian and Japanese.
She is known for her collaboration song with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo" and her answer song "Soba ni Iru ne". In September 2008, the Guinness World Records certified ...
's "
Soba ni Iru ne
is Thelma Aoyama's second official single, released on January 23, 2008, featuring SoulJa. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, " Koko ni Iru yo." B-side "My dear friend" was used as the ending theme to anime Shion ...
" (2008) featuring rapper
SoulJa
is a Japanese hip-hop musician and songwriter best known for his collaborations with singer Thelma Aoyama, "Koko ni Iru yo" and "Soba ni Iru ne" – the latter of which was the former Guinness World Records holder for the best selling digital ...
, which was certified for three million downloads between 2008 and 2014.
Greeeen's song "Ai Uta" (2007) ranks as the third highest certified song, with 2.5 million downloads tracked between 2007 and 2009.
Two more songs have sold more than two million paid downloads:
Ayaka
, known simply as Ayaka, is a female Japanese singer, songwriter and record producer formerly signed to Warner Music Japan. Born in Osaka, she moved to Tokyo to pursue a singing career. She married actor Hiro Mizushima on February 22, 2009.
B ...
's "
Mikazuki" (2006) and
Kobukuro
, a Japanese band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda.
Members
*
*
The band's visual appearance is unusual; there are only two people, ...
's "
Tsubomi" (2007).
The most successful ringtone in Japan is Moldovan-Romanian band
O-Zone
O-Zone was a Moldovan Eurodance group that was active from 1999 to 2019. Originating in 1998 as a duo consisting of Dan Bălan and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure, their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Dan Bălan, R ...
's "
Dragostea din tei
"Dragostea Din Tei" (; official English title: "Words of Love", also informally known as "Maya Hi" and "Numa Numa") is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third studio album, ''DiscO-Zone'' (2004). The s ...
" (2003), known locally as , which was certified as having four million units sold.
In Japan, only two albums have received digital certifications by the RIAJ. The first was ''
Songs for Japan
''Songs for Japan'' is a charity compilation album created to benefit relief efforts for the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami. A collaborative project between the music industry's "big four" record labels ( EMI, Sony, Universal, and Warner), ...
'' (2011), a charity compilation album raising profits for the
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, which was certified gold for 100,000 downloads in June 2011.
The second album was the Japanese language cast recording of the ''
Frozen'' soundtrack, which sold 100,000 copies between its release in March 2014 and January 2015.
South Korea
In South Korea,
Gaon Digital Chart
The Circle Digital Chart, previously known as the Gaon Digital Chart, is the music industry standard record chart ranking the 200 most popular singles in South Korea. It provides rankings on a weekly, monthly, and yearly basis, which is based o ...
has been tracking digital sales since 2009. The most successful song according to their published data is
Busker Busker
Busker Busker () is a South Korean indie band who rose to fame through their runner-up performance in the South Korean music audition television program ''Superstar K3'' on Mnet. The band consists of guitarist and vocalist Jang Beom-june, ba ...
's "
Cherry Blossom Ending
"Cherry Blossom Ending" () is a song by South Korean indie band Busker Busker, from their debut studio album '' Busker Busker 1st Album''. The song was written by band member and was released on March 29, 2012 by CJ E&M Music. The song is well ...
" (2012), which was downloaded over 7 million times between 2012 and 2017.
In 2011, "
Roly-Poly" by
T-ara
T-ara (; ko, 티아라) are a South Korean girl group formed by MBK Entertainment in 2009, consists of four members: Qri, Eunjung, Hyomin and Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their close partners ...
was the most successful song of the year, selling 4.1 million digital copies.
"Roly Poly" also became the fastest-selling song in Korea's history and the first to reach 4M Downloads in a calendar year (Roly Poly achieved +4M Downloads in 5 months).
In 2012, this accolade went to
Psy
Park Jae-sang (, ; born December 31, 1977), known professionally as Psy (stylized in all caps as PSY) (; ; ), is a South Korean singer, rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Psy is known domestically for his humorous videos and stage per ...
's "
Gangnam Style", after selling 3.8 million units.
See also
*
Comparison of on-demand music streaming services
The following is a list of on-demand music streaming services. These services offer streaming of full-length content via the Internet as a part of their service, without the listener necessarily having to purchase a file for download. This type o ...
*
On air on sale
*
Open music model
*''
United States v. ASCAP''
Notes
References
{{Music digital distribution platforms
Online content distribution
File sharing
Recorded music