MUSIC: Apple is pressuring record labels to release their albums exclusively to iTunes. Is Apple going too far?
By Jonathan Whang, Staff Writer
When Beyoncé released her self-titled album without warning in December of last year, the world was
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ecstatic. To this day, BEYONCÉ is available for digital download only on iTunes. Now, Apple is demanding this happen frequently. That is, not just specifically from Beyoncé, but more exclusive releases on iTunes.
Apple is obviously growing desperate in the new era of streaming services. Instead of purchasing music, it seems that more people are taking advantage of the free music that services such as Beats Music and Spotify have to offer. Last year, Apple’s iTunes store began to slump in sales and even more so this year, with digital album sales off 13% in comparison, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
Apple executives have taken their case to record labels and individual artists. The idea is to withhold album releases from streaming services by exclusively releasing their music on iTunes for a period of time. This way, Apple hopes to stand a chance against the commercial growth of streaming services, especially Spotify, whose number of listeners has grown to more than 20 million over the past years.
But is Apple saving the music industry or holding it back?
Spotify pays artists $0.007 per play, but the vast majority of revenue from a new album release still comes from people who actually buy it. Since its conception in 2008, Spotify’s number of users has doubled roughly every two years, and this growth shows no signs of stopping. If no action is taken, it’s plausible that in the near future, there will be a great enough number of people using music streaming services and not purchasing music that not only retailers, such as Apple and Google Play, but artists themselves will start to complain.
Sometimes, the good things in life just can’t be free. To quote Tim Westergren, the founder of Pandora Internet Radio, “if you find a band you love, buy their music, go see a show, join a fan club. That’s how we’ll create a vital and healthy musical culture around the world.” Beyoncé’s album is $15.99 on iTunes. If you love it, consider buying it.
Photo courtesy of www.mobilemag.com