iTunes Music Store: Making Smaller Artists More Accessible

While iMS offerings are a still a little limited when it comes to smaller musical artists, the music store is broadening the appeal of some artists that many of us would likely never notice. In a story forwarded to me by Shad0runr, the truth of is pretty self-evident.

To get a sense of how diverse people's musical tastes are these days, take a look at iTunes. One of the more popular artists -- in addition to the Britneys and Beyoncés -- is a Hawaiian singer who weighed 1,000 pounds at the time of his death in 1997.

Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's medley of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World" has consistently been on iTunes' list of the top 100 songs sold since it debuted in the store in December. Recently, the song held spot No. 73, ahead of Jessica Simpson's "Take My Breath Away" (81) and Beyoncé's "Crazy in Love" (82).

The more depth and breadth that the new music stores offer, and the more they deal with smaller labels, the more of an equalizer it becomes for music fans. And when you hear the almost ethereal beauty of this monumental singer doing his version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow"--a glorious version--it's a little comforting to think that those artists whose names don't grace the latest issue of Rolling Stone can still find their way to be heard.

Read the story.

Check out "Somewhere Over the Rainbow. (This link requires that you have iTunes installed on your computer.)

Posted by zombyboy at July 20, 2004 03:46 PM | TrackBack