Remember when people used to go to record shops. They used to buy albums, too. It's not that those things don't happen anymore, it's just that they occur a lot less frequently since Apple launched its iTunes store 10 years ago this Sunday, and changed music retailing forever with 99 cents downloads.
Today, Apple remains the music retailing leader with a market share that NPD Group puts at 63 percent, but its download model appears to have a limited shelf life, now with the growing popularity of so-called iRadio services, which offer personalized content with a subscription.
Bob Lefsetz, a former music industry lawyer and blogger at the Lefsetz Letter, told USA Today, "When iTunes turns 15 years old, we won't be talking about downloads, because Apple won't be selling them."
"We are in an interesting transition," Mark McGuire, vice president of research at Gartner, told Bloomberg Businessweek. "Download-to-own will persist, but with younger consumers, access through streaming services makes more sense."
According to reports, Apple is planning to launch its own Pandora-like music streaming service this year.
