Source

While the company has denied the rumors, downloads are falling out of popularity fast.

Last week, industry publication Digital Music News released a new reportclaiming that Apple is on track for a plan to eliminate digital music downloads from the iTunes store by early 2019. Although Apple has denied that any such phaseout plan exists, DMN’s report cites “multiple sources tied into the platform or working at the company itself.”

DMN’s Paul Resnikoff detailed the alleged plan that his sources outlined, which he claims is on track to be implemented in early 2019, shortly after the Christmas season:

“The company would migrate a user’s iTunes download collection towards a brand-new Apple Music account. Then, as part of a three-month transitionary trial account, a user’s entire collection would be migrated into streaming equivalents. All previous playlists and details would also be translated. Downloads unavailable as streams would be grayed out, pending future licensing. ‘But you can always go back and listen to the downloads, they always will work,’ another source noted. Over time, ‘more stuff becomes licensed’ and the grayed out collection becomes de minimis.

While not dead, it’s certainly true that paid music downloads don’t seem to be the future of music. A record number of users are migrating to streaming services, with Spotify hitting 60 million subscribers earlier this year and Apple Music surpassing 30 million. Meanwhile, paid downloads have fallen significantly, with DMN putting the U.S. declines in the first half of 2017 at 24.1 percent for songs and 19.9 percent for albums. A previous report from DMN predicted that the entire model would be dead by 2021, just 18 years after the iTunes store first launched.

Still, questions remain about the viability of streaming platforms. Spotify is preparing to go public potentially as soon as next year, although the company remains unprofitable. TIDAL’s finances remain murky, while services like Apple Music and Amazon Prime Music currently benefit from being underwritten by a larger company with diversified income streams.

Jimmy Iovine recently underscored this point in an interview withBillboard, worrying that fierce competition will drive down subscription prices. “The streaming business is not a great business,” he said. “It’s fine with the big companies: Amazon, Apple, Google… Of course it’s a small piece of their business, very cool, but Spotify is the only standalone, right? So they have to figure out a way to show the road to making this a real business.”

So far, Apple has continued to deny the prospect of ending paid downloads. It also recently acquired music recognitio...app Shazam for a reported $400 million, although its plans for the company remain unclear. However, as digital sales continue to fall while consumers move to streaming platforms, it certainly seems like the days of paid music downloads are numbered.

Check out Digital Music News‘ full report here.

donnyenglish said:

I wonder what Prince would say about this. I suspect he would feel like this is another attempt for big business to keep the profits from the artists.

That makes no sense.

TrivialPursuit said:

Yup you can pretty much put a stake in the heart of artists and what they can do and building a catalog of work etc...as someone said, in this climate where will the next Dylan, Hendrix, Miles, Prince, Michael etc....come from? They won't because the focus shifts to what is making MONEY, and Music does not make money, so the focus goes to other things that the singers do, so it will be all about your "Brand" and not your "BAND" its over folks.

Interesting... on the news this morning the rumor is that TIDAL will cease to be within six months.

lastdecember said:

Yup you can pretty much put a stake in the heart of artists and what they can do and building a catalog of work etc...as someone said, in this climate where will the next Dylan, Hendrix, Miles, Prince, Michael etc....come from? They won't because the focus shifts to what is making MONEY, and Music does not make money, so the focus goes to other things that the singers do, so it will be all about your "Brand" and not your "BAND" its over folks.

Reminds me of that essay Prince wrote a while back on how the industry has killed artists that can write, compose and perform their own music in favor of lip synching models or rappers.

TrivialPursuit said:

donnyenglish said:

I wonder what Prince would say about this. I suspect he would feel like this is another attempt for big business to keep the profits from the artists.

That makes no sense.

It is less money for artist. The artist get pennies per stream as the record companies made really bad deals with the streaming services.

StrangeButTrue said:

Interesting... on the news this morning the rumor is that TIDAL will cease to be within six months.

You can actually puchase music from Tidal. My guess is it will get purchases and absorbed by one of the tech companies. Good by decent sound and the ablity to purchase.

[Edited 12/14/17 10:32am]

Purchasing Downloads will go away eventually, Cds are almost dead and buried. Vinyl has become this collectible thing a few times a year but pricing is insanity so it will never be a factor. So streaming is what music has been lowered too. To quote an Indie artist recently he said "Hey Spotify thank you for that $12.86 check for my 2500 streams of my album."

Think about it this way. If Prince was born 20 years sooner then a lot of his work would not have been captured properly due to technology. If he had been born 20 years later then he might not have picked up an instrument. He was given to us at the exact perfect moment in time.

lastdecember said:

Vinyl has become this collectible thing a few times a year but pricing is insanity so it will never be a factor.

Yeah, I spent $35 on that last Van Halen album, when in the past a new record or cassette was usually 6 or 7 dollars. Most new vinyl average $18-$25 and that's for a single record. Most modern new release albums are a 2 record set, but a single CD. If you buy one of those audiophile albums that are 45 instead of 33 or a Mobile Fidelity half speed or something, they can cost up to $100 for one album. A new release 45 single today costs $6 - $8.

lastdecember said:

Yup you can pretty much put a stake in the heart of artists and what they can do and building a catalog of work etc...as someone said, in this climate where will the next Dylan, Hendrix, Miles, Prince, Michael etc....come from? They won't because the focus shifts to what is making MONEY, and Music does not make money, so the focus goes to other things that the singers do, so it will be all about your "Brand" and not your "BAND" its over folks.

Is it just me, or has uploading videos [on Youtube, Vimeo, etc.] become more profitable than making music?

donnyenglish said:

Think about it this way. If Prince was born 20 years sooner then a lot of his work would not have been captured properly due to technology. If he had been born 20 years later then he might not have picked up an instrument. He was given to us at the exact perfect moment in time.

I strongly disagree. Prince would still have been Prince, but only well known as an independent artist on the level as The Dap-Kings.

Greedy MFs are just going to turn it into internet radio.

.

People listen to music on the internet because the radio sucks.

.

Don't throw out those cds/records yet!

[Edited 12/14/17 13:42pm]

Slave2daGroove said:

Greedy MFs are just going to turn it into internet radio.

.

People listen to music on the internet because the radio sucks.

.

Don't throw out those cds/records yet!

[Edited 12/14/17 13:42pm]

TonyVanDam said:

donnyenglish said:

Think about it this way. If Prince was born 20 years sooner then a lot of his work would not have been captured properly due to technology. If he had been born 20 years later then he might not have picked up an instrument. He was given to us at the exact perfect moment in time.

I strongly disagree. Prince would still have been Prince, but only well known as an independent artist on the level as The Dap-Kings.

I hope that you are right. My point is that if he were born 20 years later he would have had access to a lot of shortcuts that would have impacted his artistic growth.

lastdecember said:

Purchasing Downloads will go away eventually, Cds are almost dead and buried. Vinyl has become this collectible thing a few times a year but pricing is insanity so it will never be a factor. So streaming is what music has been lowered too. To quote an Indie artist recently he said "Hey Spotify thank you for that $12.86 check for my 2500 streams of my album."

The whole thing is depressing. Especially the bold part, though.

Streaming services' impact on music sales (and industry/market decline) is manifesting itself like the gluttonous beast that it is. This is one impact. Look out for more.