Digital Music Streams Up 24% in 2013 Ahead of iTunes Radio LaunchAhead of the launch of iTunes Radio this fall, Nielsen has published its findings on U.S. music sales for the first half of 2013. Amongst other things, the survey showed total streams of both audio and video music increased 24% to 51 billion streams versus the same time period last year. With digital album sales rising only 6.3% and digital single-track sales actually down 2.3%, streaming music is clearly a major growth area for the music industry and with Apple launching iTunes Radio on millions of iOS devices this fall, it could give a further boost to the music streaming. iTunes Radio will include Pandora-style genre- and artist-based channels, extensive iTunes Store integration, and both ad-supported and ad-free subscription options. It is expected to launch to the public this fall alongside iOS 7. TechCrunch has the full report, including lists of the most streamed songs and purchased albums. Recent Mac and iOS Blog Stories • Rovio Expands 'Accounts' Cross-Device Game Progress Syncing to Original 'Angry Birds' • Evernote Updates iOS App With Shortcuts, Related Notes and Skitch Support • Official 'Firefly' Game Coming to iOS in 2014 • Best Buy Discounts 13-inch MacBook Pros by $200 for Back-to-School Promotion • New York Times Developing Gesture-Based News App for Leap Motion • Verizon Officially Announces 'Edge' Frequent Device Upgrade Program • Apple Reportedly Talking to LG About 55-65 Inch Ultra HD TV Panels • Verizon Tops Expectations with 3.9 Million iPhone Activations in Q2 2013
http://www.macrumors.com/2013/07/19/digital-music-streams-up-24-in-2013-ahead-of-itunes-radio-launch/
