Apple iTunes sales in decline

lucid · 28 Oct 2014 at 15:56

Has the bubble burst for Apple? It's sales of downloads are in decline as streaming gains popularity

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/27/apple-itunes-music-sales-beats

Is the decline down to purely pricing, or a fall in the popularity of "all things Apple" ecosystems, or is it that the download generation are making way for the streaming generation?

I've never been a fan of the download music model. Streaming and physical media are my two preferred options. How about you?

Mason- · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:05

I think streaming really does win.

For the price of (some) an album a month you can get spotify premium and can download the music for offline use (with drawbacks though) which has made downloading music quite redundant.

Doesn't Apple have a streaming service now though?

Beerbaron · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:05

Ive never spent a penny on iTunes as the software is awful. Until Apple improve and fix it I'm staying well clear.

lucid · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:33

Mason- said:
Doesn't Apple have a streaming service now though?

Yeah. The gist of the article is Apple are waking up to the reality of the shift and responding. It's just interesting how Apple changed the music landscape as little as 10 years ago, and yet today they're the ones playing catch up.

I've probably got this wrong since I don't really follow Apples's ups and downs; but it seems that since Jobs unfortunate demise, Apple appears to be somewhat lacking focus and direction. The latest iPhones haven't exactly set the market alight.

Martynt74 · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:37

lucid said:
YeaThe latest iPhones haven't exactly set the market alight.

I think thats much the same as most generations to be honest. They tend to always be behind the competition in terms of features but what they do include, they do well imo and thats the same with this (except for bendy phones!)

I think there are also a lot more options to purchase music online, Google Play has come in, Amazon have their own music download system so there are a lot of big players now competing with itunes which didn't use to be the case.

I do agree with Mason though, why spend £10 to download an album when you can stream it and many others for the same price. Especially since Spotify has such a good UI which makes the who process nice and simple.

spoffle · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:43

lucid said:
It seems that since Jobs unfortunate demise, Apple appears to be somewhat lacking focus and direction. The latest iPhones haven't exactly set the market alight.

It's got little to do with Steve Jobs. There isn't really anything special about iPhones outside of the first few models, but when they originally came out, other companies were playing catchup for a while. Now these companies have caught up and moved on, Apple's continually playing catch up.

Rroff · 28 Oct 2014 at 16:49

Quite a few people I know have moved away from iTunes due to the software going down hill and it often being slow and laggy to browse and playback issues especially in regard to downloading and playing (effectively streaming) at the same time.

nicknack35 · 28 Oct 2014 at 17:06

Since Steve Jobs Died. Apple has lost popularity. Iv'e not seen any good reviews on there products since he died. I never been a fan of apple but that man was a Jenius. And has and never be replaced

spoffle · 28 Oct 2014 at 17:26

nicknack35 said:
Since Steve Jobs Died. Apple has lost popularity. Iv'e not seen any good reviews on there products since he died. I never been a fan of apple but that man was a Jenius. And has and never be replaced

Steve Jobs didn't make the products himself...

It hasn't really got much to do with him dying, and their products are still getting good reviews. :confused:

tom_nieto · 28 Oct 2014 at 17:56

I have never enjoyed the idea of paying to download music tracks, as for the money I enjoyed going out and buying a physical item instead with the added bonus that it sounded miles better.

Spotify has completely changed all that, since subscribing to their premium service I haven't bought a CD (very unusual for me!). I unvested in a DAC and with apple TV now enjoy a larger music collection than I could ever dream of owning with the added bonus of it sounding excellent.

Everything is moving to online storage and streaming. Apple was ahead of the game here with iCloud, and this will stand them in good stead for the future. I find that their execution of ideas is usually excellent. Case in point - I felt terrible retiring my squeezebox touch to the loft after receiving an Apple TV as a gift, but quite frankly the iPad Spotify app with airplay to the Apple TV smashes the Logitech setup out of the park. It all works. For some reason I fall victim of fiddling about with new tech and new ideas, putting up with quirks and unreliability, but the Apple solution works, and looks good and is easy to use. Apple might have lost their total market domination, but they're a long way from sinking.

Jokester · 28 Oct 2014 at 17:59

You know what's irritated me about iTunes recently, they've changed the icon to red over the old blue. And red makes me angry.

233 · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:01

Apple could buy spotify and their ilk out with the change down the back of staff room sofa

They are incredibly wealthy and have more money on hand than most countries

Have apple passed 200 billion in the bank yet? Was over 160 at the start of the year

lucid · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:02

spoffle said:
Steve Jobs didn't make the products himself...

It hasn't really got much to do with him dying, and their products are still getting good reviews.

Jobs was a marketing guy with deep pockets. His skill was spotting opportunities and then funding them even if it hurt the bank balance... a lot. He was a "big ideas" guy. That didn't always sit well with other senior people in the various companies or projects he was involved in, but even tyrants have their day.

What it's difficult (I believe) to deny is that the guy had vision. That's something rare within the structure of a public company. The market likes safe hands, and accountants rarely make great leaders.

Are the Apple products of today as innovative as those of the past? Where's the game-changer products going forward. Arguably products such as the iPod, iTunes, Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPad all changed customer expectations. They were all products that people didn't realise they wanted until they were shown them. So what's the next big product from Apple. There was talk about an Apple television set (distinct from Apple TV) and I think that could actually be a nice high value niche market product for all those people who buy into the Apple design ecosystem. So where's the next big idea that's going to be put in the hands of millions of consumers? Apple Watch?.. meh.

V F · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:13

Rroff said:
Quite a few people I know have moved away from iTunes due to the software going down hill and it often being slow and laggy to browse and playback issues especially in regard to downloading and playing (effectively streaming) at the same time.

Slow and laggy on what? Handhelds themselves?

lucid said:
Jobs was a marketing guy with deep pockets. His skill was spotting opportunities and then funding them even if it hurt the bank balance... a lot. He was a "big ideas" guy. That didn't always sit well with other senior people in the various companies or projects he was involved in, but even tyrants have their day.

What it's difficult (I believe) to deny is that the guy had vision. That's something rare within the structure of a public company. The market likes safe hands, and accountants rarely make great leaders.

Are the Apple products of today as innovative as those of the past? Where's the game-changer products going forward. Arguably products such as the iPod, iTunes, Macbook Pro, iPhone, iPad all changed customer expectations. They were all products that people didn't realise they wanted until they were shown them. So what's the next big product from Apple. There was talk about an Apple television set (distinct from Apple TV) and I think that could actually be a nice high value niche market product for all those people who buy into the Apple design ecosystem. So where's the next big idea that's going to be put in the hands of millions of consumers? Apple Watch?.. meh.

He was a visionary. I thought the Jobs film portrayed that well. A beautiful film.

Rroff · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:16

More down to their CDN struggling to keep up with demand I think - opening online fed content pages, store, etc. being slow to load and/or some content lagging behind the main page loading.

Minstadave · 28 Oct 2014 at 18:36

I was never a music buyer, finding it too much hassle to organise music and expensive. I'm a huge fan of spotify however, for me I like the flat fee structure and the choice. I'm not surprised iTunes is dying, it must only be a matter of time until they bring out a streaming subscription.

nicknack35 · 28 Oct 2014 at 20:46

I like spotify. But don't know if i like it enough to pay £9.99 lol

V F · 28 Oct 2014 at 21:41

lucid, do you own any 24bit/96Hz music discs?

lucid · 28 Oct 2014 at 22:38

I think I've got some DVD-Audio sampler discs kicking around somewhere. Lord knows where though. lol

Spook187 · 29 Oct 2014 at 07:38

Never really got on with iTunes for downloading, the DRM they used at the time just made me go elsewhere, i download vast amounts of paid music at 1411 kbs for DJing.