Amidst all the contention surrounding the current state of the music industry, there’s seemingly two things we can all, both cynic and optimist alike, agree on: music sales overall are dropping fast, and iTunes is the reigning king of this crumbling kingdom.
However, according to sources cited by the Wall Street Journal, no one, not even the biggest seller of music in the world, physical or digital, is immune to the fragile state in which the music industry currently finds itself.
According to the sources, digital music sales at Apple’s iTunes store have fallen 13-14 percent worldwide since the beginning of this year. This is particularly worrying for the tech giant, as it follows a year in which global revenue from downloads fell by 2.1 percent.
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The figure comes from the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry, who also claim that the decline was offset by increases in revenue from ad-supported and subscription streaming services, resulting in overall digital revenue growth in most markets last year.
In fact, when accounting for CD sales, which have been plunging for well over a decade, overall music sales in most of the world held steady last year, resulting in a worldwide revenue of $15 billion. The only exception was Japan, which experienced steep plunges in both physical and digital sales.
However, the figures don’t quite make for a positive outlook. As Tone Deaf recently reported, album sales in major markets like the US and Australia are dropping significantly, with no artist albums managing to hit platinum in the US this year and only two attaining the coveted mark in Australia, where lower sales numbers are required to achieve the accreditation.
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The dip in download numbers further highlights the acumen displayed by Apple in their recent purchase of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine’s Beats Electronics operation. In addition to staking a claim to the company’s famous headphones, Apple now owns the company’s highly coveted $10-a-month Beats Music subscription streaming service.
According to sources cited by Market Watch, having acquired the company for $3 billion earlier this year, Apple is rebuilding the Beats Music platform with plans of relaunching it next year as part of iTunes.
However, it remains to be seen if it proves the panacea that industry experts are predicting it could be. As Tone Deaf reported earlier this month, a recent report by industry analysts MIDiA indicates streaming has had a detrimental impact on music sales — both physical and digital — in markets like the US.
