If the recording industry has its way, the day of the music download may soon be dead.
Or at least on life support.
Record companies continue to use their financial muscle to slow the growth of file-trading networks and to acquire digital-rights management technologies that limit what people can do with MP3s and other files.
To meet the growing demand for digital music, labels have turned to streaming services because they offer the one thing entertainment conglomerates want most: control.
“Labels want to maintain as much control as humanly possible, and with streaming they can keep people coming back for more,” said GartnerG2 analyst P.J. McNealy. “But the labels want to protect their content and generate revenues, so this means ultimately they want to keep selling CDs.”
Record executives have been loath to support downloads because they feared the practice would eat into the $14 billion CD retail sales market.
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