Amazon Takes Only A Tiny Bite Out Of Apple

I recently read that the research firm NPD Group reported that iTunes now controls 66.2% of online music sales.  In just a few short years, iTunes has taken over a massive amount of the online market and it is not over yet.  However, they are getting some intense competition from Amazon who is now in second place with 13.3% of the online market.  In an attempt to take market share from iTunes, Amazon has been selling selected CDs below cost in order to attract customers.   Still even with lower prices than iTunes, Amazon sales only grew 2.3% compared to 3.0% for iTunes. Some industry people have been saying that iTunes has been putting pressure on labels to pull back on the deals they have been giving Amazon.  ITunes needs to be very careful with any attempt to limit Amazon's ability to discount prices because it begs for an antitrust action. iTunes should be happy with their huge market piece and let Amazon continue to lose money selling CDs below cost. iTunes in my opinion, needs to be very careful not to do anything to slow or block competition because they already control the keys to the online market with their iTunes program that so far no competitor has been able to match.

American Music Awards: Let's Play Follow The Leader

I watched most of the "American Music Awards" last Sunday night and thought to myself, "this show could have been a documentary on why the music industry in American is declining". I think I know what's hot in today's music scene and try not to judge today's music product based on my tastes.  But was it my imagination that a lot of today's young singers all sound alike?  And look alike? And dress alike? And I am not totally sure but after a while it sounded like a lot of these singers were singing the same song. The producers of this show and others like it, have good reason to use elaborate dance routines while these young "Stars" are singing.  Could it be that they are trying to hide the fact that many of these young "Stars" have voices that are unremarkable?  Don't get me wrong, there were a few exceptional performers on the stage last night, but too few to support a pop music industry that needs help badly. By the way, does anyone know if wearing dark glasses improves one's voice? I spend a lot of time looking into the past to find the musical gems that I missed, which is a much easier task then looking for the musical gems of today. Just one man's opinion.