iTunes may soon offer on-demand streaming and Android phone app

Apple is looking to bring some big new products to its iTunes offerings to deal with the decreasing downloads market.

The headlining idea is the possibility that iTunes could launch an on-demand streaming service similar to that of Spotify and Beats Music. Apple's music division has seen an 11 percent decrease in digital track downloads and 13 percent decrease in digital album sales since last year, and most point to services such as Spotify for the drop. Typical on-demand services allow users to listen for free with occasional advertisements, or to pay for a premium subscription sans commercials.

The iTunes variant would offer a similar product, although an industry executive suggested that Apple might not offer a free variant. Instead, if a customer downloads a track off of iTunes, a notice might alert the user that for $8 a month (a strictly theoretical price at this point), they can listen to any song in the iTunes catalogue. Spotify's monthly price is $9.99, and more listeners are already familiar with iTunes, and may be more likely to stick with the service for streaming purposes. There's no indication yet as to whether a free version would be an option.

Apple founder Steve Jobs argued against the idea of a subscription service prior to his death, believing that people wouldn't pay for such a product. But then again, streaming services have risen rapidly in the few years since Jobs' death.

Another potential product in Apple's future is the development of iTunes apps for Android devices. It seems counterintuitive for Apple to promote its products on devices that aren't its own iPhones or iPads. Android phone sales are growing dramatically compared to that of iPhones, and Apple might be trying to leech off of that success by offering its music service on "foreign" devices.

Both of these programs won't be available in the immediate future, but Apple controls more than 40 percent of music revenue in the United States, so any updates from the company are worth noting.

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