NPD reports that while Apple's iTunes Music Store continues to lead the pack of online music download stores, growth in the sector appears to be slowing, and perhaps even reversing.  In April, 2004, paid downloads hit 1.3 million, but then slowed to around 1 million in May and June.  While analysts note that this coincides with promotions offered by companies like Pepsi and iTunes, the fact that P2P music sharing sites and technology have continued to grow will no doubt have the record industry up in arms yet again (we blame society). According to numbers released in the report, P2P numbers grew to 6.4 million in July 2004 from 5.1 million in August 2003.  Moral of the story? People like free stuff.

[Correction: It's 1.3 million USERS who downloaded, not downloads themselves.  Thanks, Jeff!]

Okay, this is going to be fun to watch, as in fun we mean watching a smoldering wreck of an idea with little chunks of burning idea all over the place. Our old friends eBay are starting a pilot program where people, pre-approved people, can sell downloads on the site.

Microsoft released their technical beta of Windows Media Player 10 for download. The major features include a new interface, a built in online store (with choice of stores), an all in one smart jukebox as well as the most important item: enhanced device support. The enhanced device support includes Auto-Sync which "enables the seamless, automatic synchronization of music, video, and even recorded TV and photos to supported portable devices". It looks like you'll be able to map a hard drive or storage location like a PPC or Smartphone to Auto-Sync as well as transfer TV shows from the media center to a portable media center, we're not sure what is and isn't supported yet but we're going to check it out now.