David Bowie helped shape the future of music distribution 30 years ago when he released “Telling Lies” through his website on September 11, 1996. British singer, songwriter and actor David Bowie, wearing his ‘Union Jacket’, performs live in concert at the Phoenix Festival, at Long Marston Airfield in Long Marston, Warwickshire, England, 18th July 1996. The jacket, featuring a ‘Union Jack’ design, was created by Alexander McQueen. (Photo by Mick Hutson/Redferns/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
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In the span of only about a quarter century, digital download of songs went from a curiosity to one of the most important ways people consumed music – and then back to being almost completely out of fashion. Piracy made downloadable files a nightmare for the music industry at first, but when legitimate storefronts such as iTunes eventually came along, they individual those same tracks into a multibillion-dollar section of the business – one which seemed to save the industry for a time. Since then, streaming platforms have changed everything all over again.
These days, the bestselling song in America on download platforms often sells fewer than 10,000 copies in a seven-day tracking period. There are exceptions – like when artists such as Taylor Swift and BTS mobilize their dedicated and enormous fan bases – but buying individual songs is no longer necessary for most casual listeners. Purchases have largely dropped away after a short but impactful moment in the spotlight.
David Bowie always experimented with anything and everything connected to his music, and that includes how fans heard his work. Three decades ago today, the legendary artist helped introduce the industry to a future that was still years away.
David Bowie Released “Telling Lies” Online 30 Years Ago
On September 11, 1996, Bowie released “Telling Lies” via his website. The track is widely recognized as the first downloadable single by a major artist. While nobody would think twice about listening to music online these days, at the time, Bowie’s move was shocking.
The internet was still making its way into homes around the world and dial-up connections were notoriously slow. Downloading a full song was nowhere near as simple as clicking a button on Spotify or Apple Music, and it could take hours. “Telling Lies” was offered to the masses in this fashion despite the technological difficulties.
Bowie shared “Telling Lies” weeks before it became available in stores and before it was serviced to North American radio. Bowie’s website was the first and only place fans could hear the tune, and it was a gamble for the singer and his record label at the time, Virgin Records.
“Telling Lies” Drew Nearly 50,000 Downloads in Four Days
Interest in the star’s song – and the techy move – was immediate. According to Bowie’s official website, “Telling Lies” was downloaded 5,000 times within the first several hours after its launch. In only four days, that figure had reached 46,000.
Those numbers would be impressive even now, and they were enormous at the time. In 2026, a single can sit atop Billboard‘s Digital Song Sales chart with, in some cases, only 7,000 or 8,000 copies purchased.
Bowie’s downloads were not the same as the paid digital purchases that would later power iTunes – his were free – but the quick response showed that listeners were willing to seek out a new song online rather than wait for a physical release.
David Bowie Was Moving Into Electronic Music
“Telling Lies” was recorded while Bowie was working on what would become his album Earthling. The track leaned into electronic music, industrial rock and drum and bass, styles Bowie was exploring at the time. “Telling Lies” never became one of Bowie’s defining commercial hits, and it is certainly not remembered alongside his standards like “Heroes,” “Let’s Dance” or “Space Oddity,” but it is the context surrounding the track that made it a historic release.
Digital Downloads Became a Multibillion-Dollar Business
It took years for the rest of the music business to catch up with the idea Bowie was testing in the mid-’90s. By 2013, permanent digital downloads accounted for 40% of U.S. recorded music revenue, according to the Recording Industry Association of America, and generated about $2.8 billion. Downloads grew to those heights in only a matter of years, but the format’s dominance did not last.
Streaming revenue grew rapidly, and by 2015 it had passed permanent downloads in terms of money made for the business inside the United States. Bowie lived long enough to see downloadable music become enormously important and even begin its decline, but he died in January 2016 before streaming fully reshaped the business.
David Bowie Kept Experimenting With Digital Distribution
“Telling Lies” was not a one-off experiment for Bowie. Three years later, Bowie and Virgin Records made hours… available online. The Grammy winner’s own website described the project as the first major-label album to be fully downloadable from the internet – another format that would go on to become vital to the major labels later on.
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