Subscription Services Will Replace Downloads as the Dominant Online Music Model -- While online music stores like Apple's iTunes have attracted millions of customers by selling downloads of songs or albums, changing market conditions will make subscription-based music services the dominant model for selling online music in the future. That is the conclusion of "Online Music: Will Napster Be the Next iTunes as Subscriptions Replace Downloads?" a new report from Strategy Analytics. According to this report, the shift toward subscription music services will be driven by a combination of changing consumer expectations as well as pressure from broadband service providers and record companies. In addition to changing consumer needs, the report notes that many broadband service providers prefer to offer a subscription service, such as Real Networks' Rhapsody, which generates steady monthly revenues and helps deter broadband churn. Finally, major record companies are dissatisfied with the revenue they receive from low-cost download sales, and will increasingly focus on alternative business models for selling music online.
The global cloud computing market is undergoing new significant growth, driven by the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI) and the demand for flexible, scalable infrastructure. The recent market study by International Data Corporation (IDC) provides compelling evidence of this transformation, highlighting the accelerating growth in cloud infrastructure spending and the pivotal role of AI in shaping the industry's future trajectory. Shared Infrastructure Market Development The study reveals a 36.9 percent year-over-year worldwide increase in spending on compute and storage infrastructure products for cloud deployments in the first quarter of 2024, reaching $33 billion. This growth substantially outpaced non-cloud infrastructure spending, which saw a modest 5.7 percent increase to $13.9 billion during the same period. The surge in cloud infrastructure spending was partially fueled by an 11.4 percent growth in unit demand, influenced by higher average selling prices, primari