Shifting from Downloads to Streaming

Apple in advanced talks to buy Beats Music

Apple has established itself as the most profitable digital music downloads seller for most of the world over the course of just 10 years. Recently, the trend has shifted from downloading to streaming of music according to IFPI, the recording industry trade group. IFPI data indicated the streaming revenue has reached more than $1 billion and has tripled since 2010. 

As always, Apple will try to outpace competitors, this time Apple is in advanced talks with Beats Electronics to acquire the headphone maker and streaming-music service for $3.2 billion. Beats Music app is just a few months old and only available in US. The app, which lets subscribers stream more than 20 million tracks. Beats Music recently placed an ad on Super Bowl.

Comments:

This seems like a ever changing industry, particularly in entertainment industry. Online streaming is getting popular and it is replacing downloading (legal and illegally) fast. What are the impacts on copyrights protection law? The question of the legality of streaming films or musics online. Beats Music demonstrated how to do it legally for digital streaming service. Beats music has deals with all major record companies, thus they charge the user by on-demand streaming. Users downloads songs and play songs locally on their own devices. Due to Digital rights management (DRM), the songs will not playable after expiration of the subscription.  This is all according to the 1998 Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) to impose criminal penalties on those who make available technologies to circular copyright contents digitally. So, it is still illegal for you to upload copyrighted movies or songs for streaming; And to be prosecuted by doing that, you have to be big! At least that is what has happened in U.S.

Sources:
1. www.forbes.com/sites
2. 9to5mac.com/sites
3. www.ifpi.org/digital-music-report.php
4. Ellen Reveals Her Beats Music Super Bowl Commercial