“Digital music sales at Apple Inc.’s iTunes store have fallen 13% to 14% worldwide since the start of the year, according to people familiar with the matter, underscoring the fragility of the music industry’s nascent recovery,” Hannah Karp reports for The Wall Street Journal. “The dive in download sales is stark compared with a much shallower dip last year. Global revenue from downloads fell 2.1% in 2013, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, but that decline was offset by increases in revenue from ad-supported and subscription streaming services, resulting in overall digital revenue growth in most markets last year.”
“The plummeting download numbers help illustrate why Apple bought the $10-a-month subscription streaming service Beats Music earlier this year, as part of its $3 billion acquisition that included headphone maker Beats Electronics,” Karp reports. “Apple is rebuilding Beats Music and plans to relaunch it next year as part of iTunes, according to a person familiar with the matter.”
“Apple is the biggest seller of music in the world, physical or digital. Its dominance over other download stores is especially pronounced, according to music executives,” Karp reports. “Despite the slowing U.S. music sales, Apple reported this week that global iTunes sales—including movies, apps and books—increased to $4.6 billion in the third quarter, up from $4.3 billion in the same quarter a year ago. Apple didn’t break out figures for music sales.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: US$4.99/month and millions will be there with bells on.
Related articles:
Looking to undercut Spotify, Apple asks music labels for a price cut on streaming subscriptions – October 2, 2014
Apple wants to cut the price of Beats Music subscriptions to $5 per month – October 20, 2014
Apple to shut down Beats Music, sources say – September 22, 2014
Every article about Beats says it’s “10 dollars a month”. It’s actually $8.25 per month if you buy the $99 one-year subscription. It’s only 10 dollars a month if you buy one month at a time.
Almost everything subscription based, always states the base monthly price. Hardly ever the yearly cost.. broken down to a monthly cost.
I’ve tried all of these streaming services. I believe SONGZA , to be the best.
4.99 and I’m in!
Maybe the lack of sales has a simple explanation:
1- Most of us have a large intact library of music we like.
2- Most of what is on the store that is new is not worth buying.
3- A lot of what is being most heavily promoted is crap not worth buying.
4- Apple has yet to offer lossless encoded albums for Jazz, Classical and other critical listening styles. Lossy formats like iTunes uses are not well suited to uncompressed content that exhibits wide dynamic range. Even some Rock music (Momentary Lapse of Reason, Brothers In Arms, Synchronicity, etc) needs the wide range.
Most of what I see is:
1- Hip-Hop BS
2- Nashville BS
3- Teeny Bopper BS
Everything else is buried among that tripe and discovery on iTunes is sorely lacking.
I bought my music when I was in my teens and 20s. I ripped it a decade ago when I got my first iPod. I now mostly listen to podcasts, so I don’t bore of my music.
Re: MacDailyNews Take: US$4.99/month and millions will be there with bells on.
I don’t rent music.
Music worth listening to is worth paying for.
Won’t even consider this unless it’s under $5.
No reason to rent music which competes for my attention with stuff I already own.
This service also has to have enormous flexibility. If I want to hear an entire album, I’ll get it. Or just the top 3 songs.
today, EveryBody competes for our attention from late night vacuum, cooktop, joint pain, investment, loudmouthed knives and silverware sales people to television pharmaceuticals, matthew macconaughey lincolns, easy catheters, what’s in your safe william devane shoved continuously inside tv newscasts designed for the short-attention span american, all tv.
thank goodness apple didn’t roll out apple pay like maps. I hope as much care is given to this rebuild of beats because about 90 percent of every genre of music ever recorded is as annoying as a vacuum cleaner sucking the life out of an accordion and that dirty thieving little monkey.
I would be happy to see Apple just shut down Beats services altogether. It’s a $3 billion waste of money. And yes, the ugly plastic headphones suck too.
I still buy most of my music on CD, firstly I prefer having physical media, and most of the time it’s cheaper than buying a digital version. Even on Amazon I’ve seen CD albums for a lower price than the digital version, and half the time they give you a digital copy for free if you buy the CD!