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Business News Digital
Apple considering on-demand streaming and iTunes app for Android
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 24 March 2014
Apple is considering a number of new options to keep hold of its dominance in the digital music space after the download market went into decline in the US last year. According to Billboard, music download sales on the iTunes platform saw a double-digit percentage fall in America in 2013.
The launch of the iTunes Radio service in the US last year – a streaming set-up of the Pandora model – was seen as an initial attempt to deal with the slowdown of download sales in America. The fact that other new spin-offs are now being considered possibly shows that that service hasn’t had the impact Apple wanted, or that the drop off of download sales in the US is more significant that the tech giant expected, or that possibly iTunes Radio was always about testing the water for more radical new music services.
According to Billboard, proposals now being put forward by Apple execs to the music companies include launching a fully on-demand streaming service of the Spotify model, launching an iTunes app for Android-powered devices, and trying to persuade more labels to give iTunes album release exclusives, so big new records are made available to download on the Apple platform before physical release and streaming service delivery, Beyonce style.
Of course Apple has generally been nervous about putting too much of its own money on the table to get new music services off the ground, whereas the streaming start-ups have handed over hundreds of millions to the labels and music publishers while getting things going. It remains to be seen if the tech firm cares enough about music to take a hit this time round. And if it does, if it will rely on its ad-selling abilities to recoup its costs, or whether Apple plans to push into the subscription-based content service domain.
Insiders say that all such future development discussions between Apple and the music companies have been so far pretty speculative. Though such talk implies a willingness at Apple to make some radical changes in its music offering in a bid to fight off new competitors in the space.
