Music-streaming services are growing in popularity, but are they so dominant that companies like Apple can ditch music downloads entirely? Not quite.
Digital Music News on Wedesday reported that Apple will stop offering music downloads in the next few years, perhaps as early as 2018. "Discussions are now focused 'not on if, but when' music downloads should be retired for good," the site said, citing sources with close and active business relationships with Apple.
An Apple spokesman, however, told Recode that the report is "not true."
During the company's most recent earnings call, CFO Luca Maestri said Apple's music business has been declining for "a number of quarters." But now that Apple offers a download model and a streaming model, it has "hit an inflection point," he said. "And we really believe that this will be the bottom and we can start growing from there over time."
Apple Music now has over 13 million paying subscribers, Tim Cook confirmed on that call. "We feel really great about the early success of Apple's first subscription business."
In its 2016 Digital Music Report, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) found that "downloads remain a significant offering, accounting for one fifth of industry revenues (20 percent), but streaming has emerged as the digital sector's main driver of growth." In 2015, download revenue slumped 10.5 percent, while streaming revenue was up 45.2 percent.
About 68 million people subscribed to a music service in 2015, up from 41 million in 2014, IFPI says. "Streaming revenues have overtaken income from download sales in no fewer than 42 countries and account for 43 percent of digital revenues globally."
The organization argues that Apple Music "had a transformational impact" on streaming services. But "evidence suggests the arrival of Apple Music...has not significantly lured subscribers away from other services," IFPI says.