I think DRM-free tracks will help Apple take larger slice at faster rate (assuming more studios join the party).

With video rental and 720p video with subtitle and 5.1-channel audio, Apple should have no problem taking large slice out of DVD market as well.

I'd be curious to see how many of the purchases are done using gift cards. I know I've noticed lately that there are a lot more people who casually throw out comments like "Oh, I've been meaning to buy that CD.. I got an iTunes gift card and I've been waiting to find something to use it on."

It's an easy gift to give, and it's hard to find someone who wouldn't want one.

I think Apple are going to make a bigger effort with the physical retail. I remember two reports accompanied by patent filings from a 'long' time ago about iPod content being bundled on Blu-Ray discs and cheap 'throw-away' branded iPods. This will be a pretty big step to kicking some real ass accompanied by the 720p/5.1 video subscriptions and DRM-Free music as mentioned above.

And remember, these numbers compare Apple selling mostly one track at a time against the big box retailers selling full CDs.

I think the shifting positions are at least as much a result of collapsing CD sales as it is increasing online sales.

This is all good for giving Apple a stronger hand in negotiations with the idiot suits at the major labels.

I remember one of them complaining in an interview, only a year or two back, about how Apple was a "pygmy", and how Apple only controls 2 or 4 percent of music sales or whatever. His point was that the iTunes Store and online distribution in general didn't matter compared to CD sales, so the major labels should feel free to run roughshod over Apple in any negotiations.

Looking at how sales numbers are trending, if it wasn't obvious then that that guy was an idiot and emblematic of the lack of vision that's been afflicting the music industry, then these numbers ice it.

Apple/iTS will likely be the #1 seller of music within a couple of years. Wal-Mart and Best Buy don't even care about music that much, CDs are a loss leader for them, basically. It could just as easily be DVDs or video games, far as they're concerned (and already is, in some cases).

Reality to music industry: Adapt.

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The further we move up the chart the more content we'll get, and the better the quality will be. I'm freaking stoked.