iTunes vs. streaming

APPLE BITES BACK: First it was “home taping is killing music.” Then it was “downloading is killing the CD.” Now, apparently, the cautionary refrain is that streaming is killing the download. The L.A. Times cites “people familiar with the matter” in reporting that Apple is “pressuring” labels to provide iTunes with exclusive sales windows on new releases to avoid having sales cannibalized by streaming services. Those of our readers with a functioning sense of irony will recall that Apple sold itself to the biz, a little over a decade ago, by assuaging fears of new forms of music delivery. Anyhoo, given the much-reported decline in downloads last year, it seems Apple wants more exclusives like the one that started Beyoncé’s most recent retail triumph. “These are really changing times, and I really think everybody’s going to be trying different things, whether it’s iTunes, Spotify or the labels.” comments uber-manager Irving Azoff in the piece, “It’s kind of up for grabs.” Apple declined to comment for the story by the Times’ Dawn C. Chmielewski (who also penned the paper’s Sunday profile of UMG topper Lucian Grainge) and Randy Lewis. Meanwhile, despite the apparent threat of streaming, Apple Insider is touting iTunes Radio’s growing popularity six months after its launch, noting that it has already carved out 8% of the streaming-radio market, behind Pandora and iHeartRadio and ahead of Spotify. (3/11a)