With music downloads on the decline as streaming models become more popular, Apple (AAPL -0.35%) announced this week that it would be considering big changes to its iTunes Store. This isn't the only indicator of weakness in Apple's music businesses either. Billboard has reported that iTunes Radio, Apple's own streaming service, has yet to become a success, with only 1-2% of listeners reportedly buying songs after listening to them on the service. iTunes Match, Apple's cloud service for allowing users to store their digital music libraries remotely and access them on any device for an annual fee, is now said to have only 1 million subscribers.
So where are the record iTunes billings coming from that Apple seems to continue to announce quarter by quarter? Evan notes that App Store sales are the real driver behind iTunes' growth, which he sees as far more meaningful for the company than its music sales. Evan dives into Apple's music business, discusses how meaningful iTunes Radio is for the company, and tells investors whether or not they should be worried if the service continues to struggle.
In this video from Friday's Tech Teardown, Motley Fool tech and telecom analyst Evan Niu talks with host Erin Kennedy about the future of Apple and its iTunes store.
