Report: iTunes revenue surges 84 percent in 2006

by Jim Dalrymple, Playlist Magazine

Digital media research firm comScore Networks on Wednesday released a report showing that revenue from Apple’s iTunes Store rose 84 percent in the first three quarters of 2006 versus the same period a year ago.

“As Mark Twain might have said, the rumors of iTunes’ death have been greatly exaggerated,” said Gian Fulgoni, chairman of comScore Networks.

ComScore said the number of buying transactions rose by 67 percent and the dollars spent per transaction was up 10 percent. The report also found that the number of people visiting the iTunes Store increased significantly.

In November, 2005 comScore said that 11.2 million unique visitors went to the iTunes Store; that number rose 85 percent in November, 2006 to 20.8 million visitors.

The comScore numbers are similar to a research report by Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster that said the number of songs sold per week on iTunes had risen 78 percent in the first nine months of 2006 compared with the same period in 2005.

“Contrary to recent reports suggesting sales on iTunes are declining rapidly, our analysis of Apple company data shows strong growth year over year,” said Munster. “With less than 5 percent of music purchased online, this market will go through massive growth in the next several years.”