iTunes Radio up to 20m listeners, 1b streams

LET THE BIG DOG EAT: The star of Apple’s latest dog-and-pony show yesterday in San Francisco was the new iPad Air, but Tim Cook did manage to throw in a brief progress report on iTunes Radio. Since its launch on 9/18, said the Apple chief, the service has accumulated 20 million listeners who have listened to 1 billion tracks. Cook also hinted that more high-profile albums will get their initial exposure on iTunes Radio, which broke the ice late last month with Justin Timberlake’s 20/20 Experience 2 of 2. Those 20 million users, all in the U.S. (Apple will launch the service in Australasia and Scandinavia early next year), represent more than a third of Pandora’s stated 72.7 million constituents, Digital Music News pointed out this morning, and if the current rate of growth continues, that ratio will easily surpass 50% by year’s end. (10/23a)