Sales on iTunes 'have fallen by 65 per cent'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Apple has experienced a short shock in its dominance of the online music business according to research that reports a slump at its song shop, iTunes.
A report from the US company Forrester Research says that an analysis of almost 3,000 purchases at iTunes show sales fell by 65 per cent in the first six months of the year.
If correct, the figures would be a surprise for Apple, the iconic Californian company that has revolutionised the music industry with the iPod.
An Apple spokesman denied any problems: "The conclusion that iTunes sales are slowing is simply incorrect. Apple is leading the digital music revolution with almost 70 million iPods sold and a stunning 1.5 billion songs purchased from the iTunes Store," he said.
The iTunes Music Store was launched in April 2003, and offers 3.5 million songs, 250 TV shows, 9,000 music videos and 100 movies.
The launch of the service gave hope that the music industry could combat the rampant illegal file-sharing business which pays no royalties to record companies.
But Forrester Research, based in Cambridge, Massachussetts, said that might no longer be the case. "iTunes won't save the music business or Apple," wrote analyst Josh Bernoff in the report.
Forrester, which based its findings on analysis of 2,791 US iTunes debit and credit purchases, said the number of transactions declined by 58 per cent between January and June. The size of the transactions also fell 17 per cent, the researchers reported.
In 2005, iTunes sales dropped after Christmas before rising "significantly" that May. Forrester said the recovery did not materialise this year. However, it said it was too soon to tell whether the decline was seasonal or if demand was falling. Mr Bernoff later stressed that iTunes sales were not collapsing but "levelling off".
Customers can download a song from iTunes for 79p. Apple reported in October $452 million (£230m) in sales in the last quarter from music sold through iTunes and iPod accessories. It also announced that Hollywood films and video games would join TV shows and music as downloadable items, offering more sources of income.
"Our view continues to be that selling music and TV shows and now movies helps us to sell iPods and accessories," said Apple Chief Financial Officer Peter Oppenheimer.
Apple is the world leader in song downloads, with an estimated 80 per cent of the UK market. But, Forrester said that most music on iPods had not been purchased from iTunes. Apple sold about 20 songs for each iPod purchased, even though the devices can store hundreds or thousands.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments