Global Music Sales Drop For Apple’s iTunes

Music sales at Apple’s iTunes Store have fallen 13 percent to 14 percent worldwide since the beginning of 2014, the Wall Street Journal reports. It marks a much sharper decline than in 2013, when global download revenues fell 2.1 percent, according to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry. The decline comes as consumers continuously move toward streaming services.

The decline demonstrates one reason Apple purchased $10-a-month subscription streaming service Beats Music earlier in 2014, as part of the $3 billion acquisition that included headphone manufacturer Beats Electronics. According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple is rebuilding Beats Music, with plans to relaunch it as part of iTunes next year.

A key challenge for the industry is to persuade enough users to pay a monthly subscription fee, rather than opting for free versions that require advertising and generate less monies. While Spotify offers a free, ad-supported version, Beats Music does not.

United States revenues from singles and albums downloads fell 11 percent, and 14 percent respectively, during the first half of 2014. Meanwhile, the industry saw a 28 percent leap in revenues from streaming music services, which aided overall digital revenue to increase slightly to $2.2 billion in the first half of 2014.