Apple terminating music downloads?

[iceberg]

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/05/11/apple-terminating-music-downloads-two-years/

Apple is preparing to abandon music downloads.
Apple is now preparing to completely terminate music download offerings on the iTunes Store, with an aggressive, two-year termination timetable actively being considered and gaining favor. According to sources to Digital Music News with close and active business relationships with Apple, discussions are now focusing “not on if, but when” music downloads should be retired for good.

The sources insisted on confidentiality and required that all conversations be conducted outside of email or any written medium, given the realistic fear of reprisals for sharing details of internal corporate discussions......

 

[kristie]

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2016/05/11/apple-terminating-music-downloads-two-years/

Apple is preparing to abandon music downloads.
Apple is now preparing to completely terminate music download offerings on the iTunes Store, with an aggressive, two-year termination timetable actively being considered and gaining favor. According to sources to Digital Music News with close and active business relationships with Apple, discussions are now focusing “not on if, but when” music downloads should be retired for good.

The sources insisted on confidentiality and required that all conversations be conducted outside of email or any written medium, given the realistic fear of reprisals for sharing details of internal corporate discussions......

How do you put

"actively being considered and gaining favor"

And

"Not on if, but when"

Then determine if it will happen or not?

 

[iceberg]

How do you put

"actively being considered and gaining favor"

And

"Not on if, but when"

Then determine if it will happen or not?

dunno. but even if the speculation is there, it can only really mean it's not making money for apple. if they feel streaming music is the "next wave" they're already too late. streaming isnt the next wave by any means. i've been streaming audio off my website from a dedicated server and from remote locations for 10+ years now. it's an option not a destination but given how few people actually buy music anymore, i can almost see their logic, just not the reasonings leading up to it.

if itunes is losing money then it will get cut.

 

[Reality]

While the death of music "downloads" is inevitable because streaming is becoming so widespread and acceptable and, more importantly, RIAA has always wanted to kill off music downloads, it would be a huge mistake for Apple to usher it in before being forced to do so. Even with streaming competition out there, a lot of regular (meaning non-tech) Apple's iTunes users have downloaded so many songs over the years that they feel compelled to continue using Apple for music purchases due to having iPhones, iPads, etc. If Apple eliminates music downloads, they make the break a lot easier for users who will then look at other alternatives for streaming. While Apple will keep a significant number of users mainly due to complacency and laziness, they will lose a lot more users to other services once streaming becomes the only option.

Then again, Apple's demise has been well underway since the death of Jobs. They are milking what they can for as a long as they can and, given their revenue has peaked, it makes sense to transition from ways to make more money to ways to reduce operational costs. When a company or service reaches that point in their evolution, it's literally all downhill from there. It's just a matter of how long they can stretch it out.

Apple's desktop and laptop computers have been stagnant for years now. There is nothing they are offering that is unique. The PC industry has copied some of what made them unique and Apple seems to have run out of ideas. Now instead of trend setting ahead of the PC market, they are following the PC market's technology advances and upgrades months later. Their iPhones and iTunes are their last hope and even those have become stagnant for years relying heavily on milking existing customers for new devices every 1-2 years. Most of the iPhone 7 rumors make it seem more like an iPhone 6.1 despite Apple using hyperboles months ahead of its release to make users think it will be revolutionary.

Unfortunately, you can like or hate Steve Jobs, but he was Apple.

 

[iceberg]

would have to agree with most, if not all of that. i don't believe there will ever be a time you can't buy a physical file - people just prefer them at times. trying to stop selling them because people steal them would be like no longer selling cars for the same reason. well, not a perfect analogy, but again - for my purposes i just prefer the mp3 files. i need them to make my own radio playlists and i prefer to load up what i want on a thumb drive or micro sd card and slap it in my car and have 64gb at my discretion.

the fad of creating your own playlist to me is just that. a fad. most people will likely make a few but the randomness of radio, online or otherwise, plus you'll never hear new music on a "playlist" (yet) means there is viability for people to have physical media.

an artist at a venue for example - is he supposed to say "come by our merch booth and listen to our streams"? or would it be selling access to a stream? that alone would take a decade or more because it took almost that long to put usb devices in stereos in a unified manner.

things are changing, that's for sure however.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I find the RIAA laughable. They simply never learn. I remember back in 2005 when I first moved to NY. My work and them were neighbors in my office building. They are technology stupid and they always try to stop technology progress and they fail because they aren't the driving force behind it.

If Apple is considering this based on the RIAA, it's because the RIAA is probably offering to pay them which is stupid since what the RIAA offers is becoming a easily replicated without them. They are trying to save their business model, but their business model is on it's way out. Technology is relegating what they do to a commodity status where anyone with the right skills can do exactly what they offer without the overhead of them strong-arming you.

Look at Youtube. There are amateurs out there creating high quality videos and even Internet streaming TV series. (my niece actually acts in one!) If it can be done with videos, then it can also be done with music.

Losers.

Go Google Music. So much better than iTunes. Unlimited music AND you can download the songs. You get Youtube Red for free with it. No more ads in Youtube with Youtube Red!

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

While the death of music "downloads" is inevitable because streaming is becoming so widespread and acceptable and, more importantly, RIAA has always wanted to kill off music downloads, it would be a huge mistake for Apple to usher it in before being forced to do so. Even with streaming competition out there, a lot of regular (meaning non-tech) Apple's iTunes users have downloaded so many songs over the years that they feel compelled to continue using Apple for music purchases due to having iPhones, iPads, etc. If Apple eliminates music downloads, they make the break a lot easier for users who will then look at other alternatives for streaming. While Apple will keep a significant number of users mainly due to complacency and laziness, they will lose a lot more users to other services once streaming becomes the only option.

Then again, Apple's demise has been well underway since the death of Jobs. They are milking what they can for as a long as they can and, given their revenue has peaked, it makes sense to transition from ways to make more money to ways to reduce operational costs. When a company or service reaches that point in their evolution, it's literally all downhill from there. It's just a matter of how long they can stretch it out.

Apple's desktop and laptop computers have been stagnant for years now. There is nothing they are offering that is unique. The PC industry has copied some of what made them unique and Apple seems to have run out of ideas. Now instead of trend setting ahead of the PC market, they are following the PC market's technology advances and upgrades months later. Their iPhones and iTunes are their last hope and even those have become stagnant for years relying heavily on milking existing customers for new devices every 1-2 years. Most of the iPhone 7 rumors make it seem more like an iPhone 6.1 despite Apple using hyperboles months ahead of its release to make users think it will be revolutionary.

Unfortunately, you can like or hate Steve Jobs, but he was Apple.

How does going from providing a song for download once, maybe twice to making it available to stream as often as you want to reduce operational costs?

 

[Meat-O-Rama]

There was a lot of hand wringing when they got rid of the DVD drive as well, and now most software and movies are delivered via download.

Having a copy of your own music file just doesn't make sense like it used to. You can stream just about any song from anywhere at any time from any service, not just iTunes/Apple Music. And if people are really still clamoring to be able to download music files, you can bet a service will pop up that will provide it.

 

[Reality]

There was a lot of hand wringing when they got rid of the DVD drive as well, and now most software and movies are delivered via download.

Having a copy of your own music file just doesn't make sense like it used to. You can stream just about any song from anywhere at any time from any service, not just iTunes/Apple Music. And if people are really still clamoring to be able to download music files, you can bet a service will pop up that will provide it.

Actually, RIAA has always been against letting users download music. The reason they gave in was due to customers flocking to P2P and other illegal music sharing services. They went kicking and screaming into that realization and later acceptance with Apple because making some money was better than no money at all from music downloads.

RIAA would love to see the end of music downloads because it would put them back in complete control. Even better, if streaming services help diminish the need and/or desire for people to download an actual copy of the file, they would be absolutely thrilled. If Apple ends music downloads, RIAA may start intentionally pushing up their per-song rates to drive other music download services to do the same.

While streaming is gaining in popularity mainly because of long time services like Netflix (videos) and spotify (music) becoming so popular, there are other variables, internet availability and reliability being two major issues. While people in most larger cities have no issues with internet availability, it is still more problematic as you get further away from those places. You don't want to be listening to music and it constantly stop or pause while it waits for data reconnection over blank spots or areas with no data access. Bandwidth usage is another problem for a lot of users. Most mobile users do not have unlimited data so bandwidth creep happens with constant streaming. While some carriers offer unlimited data, those plans tend to be more expensive, especially if you have a family and those that do pay for unlimited data have their speed throttled after a certain point.

My main issue with streaming is that due to licensing and exclusive deals with various media associations like RIAA, MPAA, etc., movies, music, tv shows, etc. will get added and removed from streaming services. As popular as Netflix is, I hear people griping because they were halfway through a TV show's seasons only to have Netflix drop it from their network. I don't blame Netflix as I'm sure they have to balance adding new shows and removing old shows, but still, it is quite frustrating to users. If you buy movies, tv show seasons, songs, etc., they are always available on demand without and limitations based on internet access or media availability. Even better, you can watch and/or listen to those as many times as you want and the bandwidth usage was only for the first download of each file.

While a lot of people will never have to deal with those issues when streaming or they may not be bothered enough to worry about it, there will also be a lot of people who won't be happy over the transition toward streaming.

 

[LittleBoyBlue]

dunno. but even if the speculation is there, it can only really mean it's not making money for apple. if they feel streaming music is the "next wave" they're already too late. streaming isnt the next wave by any means. i've been streaming audio off my website from a dedicated server and from remote locations for 10+ years now. it's an option not a destination but given how few people actually buy music anymore, i can almost see their logic, just not the reasonings leading up to it.

if itunes is losing money then it will get cut.

Agreed 100% on streaming. Prefer streaming over download for years now. Buffering improved years ago... Then.. I was hooked!

 

[iceberg]

Agreed 100% on streaming. Prefer streaming over download for years now. Buffering improved years ago... Then.. I was hooked!

well i meant i've been a "source" for streaming audio" but to do that i need physical files.

 

[YosemiteSam]

There was a lot of hand wringing when they got rid of the DVD drive as well, and now most software and movies are delivered via download.

Having a copy of your own music file just doesn't make sense like it used to. You can stream just about any song from anywhere at any time from any service, not just iTunes/Apple Music. And if people are really still clamoring to be able to download music files, you can bet a service will pop up that will provide it.

That is completely incorrect. Until there is universal high speed Internet everywhere you go (and I mean everywhere including while in your car) and connected at all time, then that isn't true at all. I cannot stream music all the way to work because my connection goes in and out all the time. I use Google Music and download what I want onto my phone for the week and play that via Bluetooth to my car. When I'm at home on my WiFi, I stream. When I'm not. I download it.

 

[TheCount]

If Apple eliminates music downloads, they make the break a lot easier for users who will then look at other alternatives for streaming.

I assume the article is talking about Apple moving to a Spotify-like model. You can still sync songs right next to downloaded songs on Spotify. It's just that Spotify requires your device check in with Spotify after a certain amount of time. I think it's like a week or two; I've traveled with synced songs for two weeks at a time and never turned data on with without issue.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Does Apple still make Ipods?

 

[Leadbelly]

There are rumors of a large revamp of iTunes coming as well. It would be very strange if Apple were putting resources into that while also planning to end the iTunes music store in just a couple of years. I mean, they're still selling ringtones lol. There are parts of the iTunes store that must be tiny compared to music store revenue. If they aren't killing those, I doubt they're killing music sales (unless forced by the music industry).

I think it's inevitable music will only be available via streaming/radio solutions eventually, but I would be shocked if it happens in the 2-4 year timeline the rumors purported. The total number of paying on-demand music streaming subscribers is under 60 million people worldwide at this point.

These rumors are more likely the wishful thinkings of (1) services competing with Apple's streaming service, (2) the music industry, or (3) Amazon executives.

 

[DanteEXT]

I prefer downloads. Streaming is not an option for half my drive and while I am at work. Either no data or so slow nothing will work.

 

[TheCount]

I prefer downloads. Streaming is not an option for half my drive and while I am at work. Either no data or so slow nothing will work.

They will most likely support syncing to a device.