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In December of 2013, Apple collaborated with Parkwood Entertainment/Columbia Records for exclusive rights to be the first to launch Beyonce’s fifth studio album “Beyoncé” on iTunes. The digital download became the fastest selling album ever on iTunes with more than 825,000 albums sold in the first three days. Apple wants more.
According to Billboard, Apple music chief Robert Kondrk has been “pressuring” major labels to release more exclusive albums on iTunes, leaving services like YouTube and Spotify behind and increasing download sales for the company.
Beyonce’s successful launch on iTunes was made possible by its availability only on Apple’s music service. The album was only sold in its entirety for the first week and was not available to stream anywhere else until after the exclusive contract was up. Within that first week, Apple sold one million copies of “Beyoncé.” The same music is now available in a variety of ways, including individual purchases of the 14 tracks.
Apple met with label executives to discuss future plans during Grammys Week in Los Angeles this past January. Kondrk suggested that albums wouldn’t even necessarily have to be exclusive to iTunes and labels could give copies to stores, but not streaming music services.
Kondrk also asked that labels “lock down” individual track sales for the first week so that buyers would be more enticed to purchase an entire album instead of waiting for single tracks.
This type of deal is music to major label’s ears. Companies like Spotify and YouTube pay off over time, while full-album downloads would supply record labels with immediate pocket money.
“The iTunes theory was that because of the easy availability to access albums on YouTube it has punctured sales globally for track and albums,” said one major label executive who is familiar with the issue.
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