Safeway

Major Labels Pleased With Initial Sales of iTunes Album Cards

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on October 29, 2007 - 11:40am.

New York - At least one major record label that partnered with Starbucks and other retailers to sell iTunes digital album download cards is happy with initial sales of the product, as Sony BMG said 6% (5,720 units) of all copies of Eddie Vedder's soundtrack to "Into the Wild" sold thus far were digital cards, Billboard reported. Earlier this month, cards redeemable for a single album for a particular artist -- plus extras like music videos -- went on sale for between $11.99 and $14.99 at Starbucks, Safeway grocery stores and other locations. "People are pleasantly surprised by the results," Sony BMG Music Entertainment senior vice president and general manager of U.S. digital sales Adam Mirabella told Billboard. "This is a new product, and the customers are just learning about it," EMI Music Marketing senior vice president of sales Darren Stupak told Billboard. "So the sales can only get better."