Yes, YouTubers (and all artists) are finding alternative revenue sources during this transition period (via Sponsorships, Patreon, BandCamp, PledgeMusic and BandPage), but let the transition happen naturally. YouTubers who get millions of views a month (but have no label giving them an advance, no interest in touring and no merch to sell), depend on iTunes revenue. Visit any musician’s website from superstar to local band and they will most likely have a link to iTunes. Every marketing expert knows that the more clicks required at point of sale, the less likely a sale will happen. You have to click over to the iTunes Store, then type the artist’s name or song title in the search field and sift through the results. If you choose not to join Apple Music, that’s it.
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There’s no “No Thanks” or “Skip” button, which then takes you to the download you are looking to buy. Now, when you click a desktop link to an iTunes download, Apple will reroute you to the song in Apple Music, urging you to sign up. And there will be nearly as much this year. In 2014, there were over a billion iTunes downloads. Sure downloads are slipping, but they’re not gone just yet. ITunes is still the most popular music store in the world. And definitely not for indie artists who aren’t pulling in the superstar streaming numbers and didn’t get massive advances from the streaming services (like major labels enjoyed). Streaming has the potential to make artists more money in the long run. Yes digital download purchases are shrinking monthly, but Apple is helping usher them off the cliff once and for all. I understand why Apple is pushing their new product so hard, but what they clearly don’t realize (or care) is many indie artists still rely on iTunes revenue to pay their bills. Kleenex, Q-tips, Ziploc and now, Spotify. Spotify has worked its way into music’s vernacular and has become the generic term for streaming. Apple is so late to the game, they are trying desperate measures. They know streaming is the future of the music industry whether people stream on Apple or not. I know you’re probably screaming, ‘why would Apple intentionally inhibit sales for their most profitable digital product?!’ Well Apple has the cash for this investment. So, how is Apple now trying to get users to signup for their horribly flawed new streaming service? By changing every new and existing iTunes link to point to Apple Music instead of iTunes. You can’t wait this long to get into the streaming field and then drop the ball so hard. And why wouldn’t they? The iTunes music library, player and store used to be fantastic. Music fans worldwide put their trust into Apple. Some genius at Apple (pun intended) thought to combine the new Apple Music streaming service with people’s personal music libraries that everyone had taken great pains to curate, customize and purchase over the years. Not only is it cluttered and completely nonintuitive, it messes up users’ owned music library. So how is Apple looking to win over new streaming customers? By making a better product than the rest? Nope! Apple Music’s UI is a disaster. Even Jay Z’s Tidal, which everyone in the industry had pretty much given up on, has a million paying subscribers. Spotify projects they will reach 100 million users by year’s end.
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Sources say that Apple Music will only have 3.5 million subscribers after November cancellations (15 million initially signed up for the trial period beginning June 30th).