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A music download is the digital transfer of music via the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...
into a device capable of decoding and playing it, such as a
personal computer A personal computer, commonly referred to as PC or computer, is a computer designed for individual use. It is typically used for tasks such as Word processor, word processing, web browser, internet browsing, email, multimedia playback, and PC ...
,
portable media player A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally they refer to small, Electric battery, batter ...
,
MP3 player A portable media player (PMP) or digital audio player (DAP) is a portable consumer electronics device capable of storing and playing digital media such as audio, images, and video files. Normally they refer to small, battery-powered devices ...
or
smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...
. 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 systems. 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 legal 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, ...
ed material without permission or legal payment. Music downloads are typically encoded with
modified discrete cosine transform The modified discrete cosine transform (MDCT) is a transform based on the type-IV discrete cosine transform (DCT-IV), with the additional property of being lapped: it is designed to be performed on consecutive blocks of a larger dataset, where s ...
(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 compression ...
, particularly the
Advanced Audio Coding Advanced Audio Coding (AAC) is an audio coding standard for lossy digital audio compression. It was developed by Dolby, AT&T, Fraunhofer and Sony, originally as part of the MPEG-2 specification but later improved under MPEG-4.ISO (2006ISO/ ...
(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 under the lead of Karlheinz Brandenburg. It was designed to greatly reduce the amount ...
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 f ...
. According to a Nielsen report, downloadable music accounted for 55.9 percent of all
music sales Record sales or music sales are activities related to selling music recordings (albums, single (music), singles, or music video#Commercial release, music videos) through physical record shops or digital music stores. Record sales reached their pe ...
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 alone made 1.1 billion of revenue in the first quarter of its fiscal year. According to the
RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
, music downloads peaked at 43% of industry revenue in the US in 2012, and has since fallen to 3% in 2022.


Online music store

Paid downloads are sometimes encoded with
digital rights management Digital rights management (DRM) is the management of legal access to digital content. Various tools or technological protection measures, such as access control technologies, can restrict the use of proprietary hardware and copyrighted works. DRM ...
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 computer hardware or software component 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 o ...
(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 and/or needed 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 The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
. 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 corporation and technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, in Silicon Valley. It is best known for its consumer electronics, software, and services. Founded in 1976 as Apple Comput ...
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 vs Napster: In the beginning of the 2000s Napster was sued due to mass infringement of music ownership copyrights by the record industry - a sue which issued a preliminary injunction for the service and was concluded by the closure of the Napster free music sharing between its users. The
Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/o ...
(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 the 8th of September 2003, against individuals who illegally downloaded music files from the
Kazaa Kazaa Media Desktop ( ) (once stylized as "KaZaA", but later usually written "Kazaa") was a peer-to-peer file sharing application using the FastTrack protocol licensed by Joltid Ltd. and operated as Kazaa by Sharman Networks. Kazaa was subsequ ...
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 UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
began to incorporate downloads in the UK Singles Chart 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 UK Charts Company Limited (formerly Music Industry Chart Services Limited), trading as the Official Charts Company (OCC) or the Official Charts (formerly the Chart Information Network), is a British inter-professional organisation ...
since 2004 and included in the main UK Singles Chart from 2005. Up to November 2022, the most-streamed song in the UK is "
Someone You Loved "Someone You Loved" is a song recorded by Scottish singer-songwriter Lewis Capaldi. It was released on 8 November 2018 as a download via Vertigo Records, the third single from his second extended play, ''Breach'' (2018), and was later included ...
" by
Lewis Capaldi Lewis Marc Capaldi (born 7 October 1996) is a Scottish singer-songwriter and musician. In March 2019, his single "Someone You Loved" (2018) topped the UK Singles Chart where it remained for seven weeks, and in November 2019, it reached number ...
, with over 562 million streams.


United States

In November 2005, the record for the best-selling downloaded single in the United States was held by
Gwen Stefani Gwen Renée Stefani Shelton ( ; born October 3, 1969) is an American singer-songwriter and fashion designer. Stefani rose to fame as a member and lead vocalist of the band No Doubt, whose hit singles include " Just a Girl", " Spiderwebs", an ...
'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 by ...
", 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 The Black Eyed Peas are an American musical group formed in Los Angeles in 1995, composed of rappers will.i.am, apl.de.ap and Taboo (rapper), Taboo. Fergie (singer), Fergie was a member during the height of their popularity in the 2000s, and ...
's "
I Gotta Feeling "I Gotta Feeling" is a song by American group the Black Eyed Peas from 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 released a ...
", 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 Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...
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) is an English singer-songwriter. Regarded as a British cultural icon, icon, she is known for her mezzo-soprano vocals and sentimental songwriting. List of awards and nominations received by Adele, ...
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 Cou ...
" selling 1.12 million copies in November 2015.
Eminem Marshall Bruce Mathers III (born October 17, 1972), known professionally as Eminem, is an American rapper, songwriter, and record producer. Regarded as one of the greatest and most influential rappers of all time, he is credited with popula ...
's seventh studio album, '' Recovery'' (2010), became the first album to sell one million digital copies.
Beyoncé Beyoncé Giselle Knowles-Carter ( ; born September 4, 1981) is an American singer, songwriter, actress, and businesswoman. With a career spanning over three decades, she has established herself as one of the most Cultural impact of 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 pro ...
began issuing certifications for digitally released music in Japan, compiling data from the early 2000s onwards. The best-selling song is Fukushima-based vocal group
Greeeen Gre4n Boyz (stylized as GRe4N BOYZ), until March 2024 named Greeeen (stylized as GReeeeN), is a Japanese all-male vocal group from Kōriyama in Fukushima Prefecture, comprising the four members: HIDE, navi, 92 (read as "kuni"), and SOH. They de ...
'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 Contemporary R&B, R&B singer. She is part Afro-Trinidadians and Tobagonians, 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 Sep ...
's "
Soba ni Iru ne is a song recorded by Japanese singer Thelma Aoyama featuring Japanese rapper SoulJa, released on January 23, 2008, via Universal J. It is an answer song to her previous collaboration with SoulJa, "Koko ni Iru yo." The B-side of the single, ...
" (2008) featuring rapper
SoulJa Johannes Maria Leenders Zwaan, better known as , 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 W ...
, which was certified for three million downloads between 2008 and 2014. Greeeen's song "
Ai Uta is a song by the Japanese band Greeeen (now Gre4n Boyz). It was released on May 16, 2007. Release and reception "Ai Uta" was released on May 16, 2007, as the band's third single. The song was later included in the band's first album '' Ā, D ...
" (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 by the mononym 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 ...
's " Mikazuki" (2006) and
Kobukuro , a Japanese band (music), band, formed in 1998 and made its major label debut in 2001. The name is a portmanteau of the two members' family names, Kentarō Kobuchi and Shunsuke Kuroda. Members * * The duo's visual appearance is striking due ...
's " Tsubomi" (2007). The most successful ringtone in Japan is Moldovan-Romanian band
O-Zone O-Zone is a Moldovan Eurodance group and boy band produced by Dan Bălan; originating in 1999 as a duo, which consisted of Bălan, and Petru Jelihovschi before the latter's departure. Their official trio lineup in 1999 consisted of Bălan, ...
's "
Dragostea din tei "Dragostea din tei" (; Romanian: "Love From the Linden Tree") is a song recorded by Moldovan group O-Zone, released around July 2003 in Romania by Media Services as the lead single from their third studio album '' DiscO-Zone'' (2003). It was ...
" (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 On 11 March 2011, at 14:46:24 Japan Standard Time, JST (05:46:24 UTC), a  9.0–9.1 Submarine earthquake, undersea megathrust earthquake occurred in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Oshika Peninsula of the Tōhoku region. It lasted approx ...
, 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,
Circle 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 on ...
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, ...
's "
Cherry Blossom Ending "Cherry Blossom Ending" () is a song by South Korean Independent music, 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. ...
" (2012), which was downloaded over 7 million times between 2012 and 2017. In 2011, " Roly-Poly" by
T-ara T-ara (; ) is a South Korean girl group formed in 2009, currently consisting of four members: Qri, Hahm Eun-jung, Eunjung, Hyomin, and Park Ji-yeon, Jiyeon. T-ara's career is marked by Hook (music), hook-heavy dance-pop music, a result of their ...
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 more than 4 million downloads in a calendar year (within 5 months). In 2012, this accolade went to
Psy Park Jae-sang (; born December 31, 1977), better known by his stage name Psy ( ; ), is a South Korean rapper and singer-songwriter, known domestically for his humorous music videos and stage performances and internationally for his hit singl ...
's "
Gangnam Style "Gangnam Style" () is a K-pop song by South Korean singer Psy, released on July 15, 2012, by YG Entertainment as the lead single of his sixth studio album, ''Psy 6 (Six Rules), Part 1'' (''Ssai Yukgap Part 1''). The term "Gangnam Style" is a n ...
", 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 ...
* List of most-streamed songs in the United Kingdom *
On air on sale On air on sale is a policy in the music industry where recorded music is made available for sale at the same time as it is made available for radio broadcast, instead of several weeks later in order to let marketing "buzz" develop, as was former pra ...
* Open music model * Top 50 certified music artists (USA digital singles) * ''
United States v. ASCAP ''United States v. American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) et al.'', No. 09-0539, 2010 WL 3749292 (2nd Cir. 2010), was a United States Court of Appeals case involving copyright liability for third-party vendors that provi ...
''


Notes


References

{{Music digital distribution platforms Online content distribution File sharing Recorded music