Huh? Not everyone is connected to the Internet 24/7. I'd rather buy and rip a CD that is double (I see lots of CDs for $20 when it is $10 on iTunes) the price rather than pay for a subscription. I'm a musician and listen to hours of music a day but I certainly won't ever subscribe to a music service.
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Apple Aiming to End iTunes Music Downloads in Two Years [Update: Apple Says 'Not True']
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No, they won't. The reason they are considering it is because their streaming service is already out performing their music sales. If that trend continues (and there is zero indication that it won't) it won't be worth the effort to keep the music sales business going. Don't blame Apple for this one, blame consumers who want All You Can Eat streaming services instead of buying individual tracks or albums.
Considering my vinyl record collection has retained or increased in value, I don't consider vinyl records to be "worthless"
Back when I was a kid, we had streaming music then too. It was called the Radio. You have multiple channels, music styles, languages all sorts of cool stuff. And it was free in that it was Ad supported.
Now technology has bought an improvement, we now have to pay for what we used to get for free.
Now technology has bought an improvement, we now have to pay for what we used to get for free.
Absolutely plausible. They run FCP into the ground, Aperture is dead, Photos is laughable, iTunes is as a total train wreck, Apple Music hardly any better, the computer and display lineup is an in an insult with mostly outdated, overpriced and thinned out cr@p
I miss the old Apple so much. When Apple focused on quality. Slightly expensive but good hardware and professional software.
Can't wait for the next Apple Event Commedy Show with the 3 stooges Schiller, Cue and Ive.
I miss the old Apple so much. When Apple focused on quality. Slightly expensive but good hardware and professional software.
Can't wait for the next Apple Event Commedy Show with the 3 stooges Schiller, Cue and Ive.
Well if true I move all my music needs to Amazon. Today I only stream Amazon music as it is part of prime but I could as well buy everything through Amazon. Bye bye Apple.
Um, what? Of course they still have to store it! Where do think it gets streamed FROM? Same place downloads come from - some giant server farm at Apple.
One word sums up this plan (assuming it is true) .......Arrogance! As a baby boomer, I will continue to play my music on local storage. I will not stream, even if Apple and the record companies try to force me to.
This is why I only ever buy CDs. I've really been digging Amazon's AutoRip feature-- I buy the CD, download the MP3s to listen to while I wait for the disk, rip the disk in lossless and delete the MP3 version.
The problem is going to be when they stop making CDs. Hopefully, by then, I'll have all the music I'll ever want.
The problem is going to be when they stop making CDs. Hopefully, by then, I'll have all the music I'll ever want.
Streaming is environmentally unsound, download is done once and only requires energy to play. Apples claims to be environmentally sound are meaningless and they should close down the existing streaming service. Streaming is not the same as radio, it requires energy use per listener.
Apple allegedly has an aggressive plan to "terminate" music downloads from iTunes within two years, reports Digital Music News citing sources with "close and active business relationships" with Apple.
Apple is also rumored to be considering a three to four year timeline for the shutdown of iTunes downloads, but overall discussions with Apple executives are said to focus on "not on if, but when" the company should retire music downloads. Termination of music downloads could be staggered by country based on the popularity of streaming content in different regions.The timeline is unclear because Apple's iTunes business continues to bring in hundreds of millions of dollars each year, but it is on the decline due to the rise of streaming music services. According to music industry Mark Mulligan, iTunes music downloads will be worth $600 million in 2019, down from $3.9 billion in 2012. Mulligan believes Apple's download business could be 10 times smaller than its streaming music business by 2020.
Apple is also said to be considering ending music downloads due to the confusion it causes with Apple Music, mixing downloaded music purchases with Apple Music content.
Late last month, Apple CEO Tim Cook announced that Apple Music now has 13 million paying subscribers, up from 11 million users in February. Apple Music originally launched on June 30, 2015 in more than 100 countries and at its current growth rate, Apple is on track to have 15 million subscribers at its one-year anniversary.
Article Link: Apple Aiming to End iTunes Music Downloads in Two Years
I prefer Amazon anyways. I enjoy vinyl when listening to music at home, and digital elsewhere. With Amazon, I can buy and have the physical media that I own and the digital versions are automatically added to my cloud library to stream and if I am going to be somewhere without internet I can download the digital direct to my device. Fck iTunes.
I wonder what will be the criteria for artists to have their music streamed. Will it be a single song or album?? If it is much more selective that would not be a good system. Also Apple would probably pay the artists a fraction for the streaming as spotify does. Overhead would be a lot less for Apple at the expense of the artists. At that point it would be better for the artist to sell their music on their own internet site or at live venues.....
Yes, all the major streaming services support download and offline playback on mobile devices. You just need to be connected about once per month so the app can verify that you are still a subscriber.
I'm sure this is being discussed at Apple and other vendors. Last year, music subscription revenue surpassed downloads for the first time:
http://bgr.com/2016/03/22/streaming-music-vs-digital-downloads/
In some countries (like Spotify's home country Sweden) downloads have been practically dead for a while. If this trend continues, at some point it'll not be a worthwhile business anymore.
explain why this is a stupid move by Apple? Statistics are showing that fewer and fewer people are buying music. Streaming is taking over. That's like saying Apple should support the 1 person that still uses a floppy drive to run his dungeons and dragons program. Apple isn't ending it now and won't end it until streaming takes over. If the tide turns then I'm sure they'll switch gears. They're just following the trend.
How about:
Offline access required for air travel, inside buildings and remote locations? Check
Wanting to own music instead of having it disappear during rights disputes? Check
Higher quality sound than available over streaming? Check
Local 1TB library? Check
Don't want to be tracked/monitored/spied/marketed? Check
Don't want to get hit with huge cellular data charges? Check
To be fair, I don't buy music from iTunes anyway - it's too low quality. So killing downloads is no big deal, I'll just buy CD's or HQ tracks online like I do now. If the industry goes to a 'radio only model', well, I've got plenty of existing music to listen to, and won't pay a subscription fee.
If they kill owned music completely in iTunes, well, I'll stop using iTunes. Someone will build a decent music app for OSX and iOS, and I'll drop out of the ecosystem. Right now it's a constant battle to turn off Apple Music (the iOS music app still freaks out when you launch it in a low-data speed area, even with it disabled).
I think this may very well be a trial balloon to see what the reaction will be. If so, it's made of lead and filled with fertilizer.
[edit] for what it's worth, I agree - Apple needs to separate Apple Radio from iTunes music. Two apps, or let us completely disable one or the other.
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Again, Apple Music, Spotify et al. allow you to download music to your mobile device for offline listening.
Why would it? iTunes music hasn't had DRM for years. The files are yours to keep.
Just make your own backups. USB drives that can hold even the largest music collections are cheap.