Even with iTunes the digital media juggernaut that it is, Apple apparently doesn’t want to sit on its laurels — the company is rumored to be working on both a streaming music service and an Android-compatible version of iTunes to catch those people jumping ship to alternative platforms.
While Apple already has its iTunes Radio discovery service in play, the new product would be a Spotify-style music-on-demand app that gives users access to millions of tracks instantly. According to Billboard, Apple has “opened exploratory talks with senior label executives” about putting together its own streaming service to fend off competition from Spotify, Rdio, Google Music and others.
Getting its information from “people familiar with the talks”, Billboard said that iTunes support for Android and a dedicated iTunes app for Google’s mobile operating system were also being discussed. Android now accounts for around 80 percent of all the smartphones in use around the globe, so Apple executives may well consider the move worth the extra revenue. It took five years for iTunes to make the leap to Windows from Mac.
Both moves would make sense for Apple, but the Billboard report emphasizes that talks are at “a very early stage.” So far in 2014, digital album sales are down 13 percent and digital track sales are down 11 percent from the same period last year, while revenue from streaming music services is on the rise. In total, iTunes still accounts for more than 40 percent of U.S. recorded music revenue.
Would you like the ability to sync your iTunes library to your Nexus device? Could Apple build a service that’s better than Spotify? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.
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