The digital music market is set to be shaken up as soon as this summer as Apple, Google and Spotify race to deliver new services that labels warily hope may reverse a decade of declining revenues.
Each of the technology companies is taking a slightly different approach with their new services, as the music industry grapples with a slowdown in sales of digital downloads, on top of the plummeting CD market.
Apple, which rocked digital music services such as Pandora, Rdio and MOG last week by announcing plans to keep 30 per cent of all revenues from subscriptions taken out through its App Store, has clarified its plans for using remote storage, known as the cloud, according to several music industry executives.