CUPERTINO CA (Hypebot) – Global music sales at Apple’s iTunes are down 13% – 14% since the start of the year, according to a new report.
The reason are obvious – ubiquitous free music alongside ad-supported and paid streaming. The cure, Apple hopes, is Beats Music, which it acquired along with Beats audio for $3.2 billion.
The paid music streamer will reportedly be folded into Apple's iTunes music services, informed sources tell the Wall Street Journal. Apple is is reportedly in the midst if rebuilding Beats Music to fit its design and tech platform, with the hope of relaunching it sometime next year, as the paid streaming music arm of iTunes.
Global revenue from downloads also fell 2.1% in 2013, according to the IFPI.
