What’s your default source of legal downloadable music? It’s okay if it’s not iTunes, really. That doesn’t make you less of an Apple lover in my book; but Apple is certainly not happy about how its sales are going down – at least in terms of music downloads.
As can be expected, streaming services such as Spotify and Beats Music have not escaped their radar. The L.A. Times reported that, according to their sources, says that Apple thinks that such services are cannibalizing their sales and they are putting pressure on record labels to give them an exclusive on new releases; that is, iTunes gets dibs on new releases and the other services only get their chance after a certain period.
The phrasing is a little more subtle than that: “create a period reserved for digital purchasing”. Neat, huh?
Of course, there is no official statement about this “demand”, although industry insiders have commented that, indeed, streaming services may be the reason Apple’s music customers are wandering.
The thing is, even if you do stream music, if you really like the album, wouldn’t you eventually purchase it anyway?
Do you regularly buy music from iTunes? Has your spending pattern been affected by streaming services?
