Apple has moved to deny reports it plans to kill off iTunes Music downloads in favour of a streaming-only future.
Earlier this week reports emerged claiming Apple planned to shut down sales of tracks and albums within two years.
However, an Apple spokesperson told Recode the story was simply “not true.”
Apparently, there was no further elaboration from the company, but it seems little more was needed.
Related: Apple Music review
With subscribers able to save tracks and albums for offline playback, there’s little incentive for those people to buy albums from iTunes.
However, for the people who wish to buy only a few albums a year, it still works out cheaper to purchase downloads rather than pay $120/£120 a year to subscribe to Apple Music.
According to Bloomberg, Apple is still making around $3.5 billion from iTunes purchases, but that number will fall to about $600 million in the next three years as Apple Music gains more and more prominence.
Is there still a place for downloads in the new streaming era? Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.