Photo: Rodrigo Ferrari/Flickr CC
October 31, 2005: Less than three weeks after launching video downloads with iTunes 6, Apple reveals that it has already sold more than 1 million music videos.
Apple’s dive into the online digital video market — with 2,000 music videos, Pixar short films and a selection of hit TV shows for $1.99 — looks like the logical next step after selling individual songs on iTunes. Passing the 1 million download benchmark so quickly suggests the plan is a roaring success.
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iTunes video: A logical step
As with so much of what Apple has done over the years, the move to start selling TV shows and other video content came at the perfect time. YouTube was still in its infancy (hence people actually paid money for music videos). However, increased high-speed internet access finally made video streaming possible for ordinary users.
I got my first broadband connection around this time. Previously, anything more than downloading a short video clip proved totally unfeasible. Getting broadband was like being blasted into the future.
Apple’s long embrace of video
The iTunes video launch in 2005 seemed like a natural fit for Apple. The company has a long history of letting users watch videos on their machines. As far back as the 1980s, Apple experimented with demos, like Steve Perlman’s QuickScan, that allowed video playback to run on a Mac. In 1991, Apple introduced Mac users to QuickTime, which served as the standardized digital video tool for a long time.
By 2005, Apple was working toward a future in which it would produce mobile devices able to support video. This was crucial if downloading music videos and other material was going to live up to its potential — just as the iPod had been key to iTunes music downloads.
iPod Classic with video is perfect match for iTunes
In October 2005, Apple launched the fifth-gen iPod Classic, with a larger-than-ever screen. This introduced video playback to the music player for the first time. According to the biography Becoming Steve Jobs, the Apple chief pitched new Disney CEO Bob Iger on the idea of opening up his shows to digital distribution by showing him the new video iPod.
“Would you consider putting your TV shows on this?” Jobs asked. Iger answered in the affirmative without missing a beat.
Ultimately, Apple secured deals to sell downloads of hit shoes like Desperate Housewives, Lost and Grey’s Anatomy. The music video offerings merged this new focus on video with Apple’s existing deals with record labels. Videos by artists like Michael Jackson, Fatboy Slim and Kanye West helped push iTunes past the 1 million downloads mark.
All about context
Today, when top YouTubers and TikTokers score millions of views within days, and music videos hit the “Billion View Club” faster than ever, the idea that Apple would put out a press release to crow about notching 1 million music video downloads seems astonishingly quaint. However, at the time it was big news. This early success also laid the foundation for Apple expanding into a whole new area of business.
Here in the 2020s, Apple goes beyond merely distributing video. With Apple TV+, the company now produces its own TV shows and movies. The streaming service features a plethora of shows commissioned by Cupertino, all for $9.99 a month. It currently captures an estimated 8% of the U.S. streaming market. Whether Apple TV+ ultimately beats Netflix or not, it all started for Apple back in 2005.
Do you remember the first music video or TV show you downloaded using iTunes? Leave your comments below.
