Apple’s iTunes – the virtual music storefront that provides media for the iPhone, iPad, iPod, Macs, and Windows computers – continues to dominate the music industry with 63% of all digital music sales. Amazon, Apple’s closest competitor, has a relatively small 22%.

While Apple’s iTunes continues to maintain its lead, the platform’s growth is slowing. Alternatives to iTunes, such as Amazon’s music services and streaming services like Pandora and Spotify, are gaining steam as more consumers become aware of the advantages of each respective platform. iTunes, locked to the Apple ecosystem, is forced to compete with the more open Amazon platform. App-based alternatives like Spotify and Pandora are also gaining marketshare as Apple is rumored to debut an “iRadio” service in the coming months. It’s unclear whether or not consumers will flock to Apple’s radio service, or whether the rise of Spotify and the streaming model of consuming music is imminent. Do you use iTunes for your media needs?

[The Verge]

While Apple’s iTunes Store itself remains to be one of the premier locations to buy and download music, recent streaming startups such as Spotify have begun to make a large impact as mobile devices have become the preeminent way to consume media. Apple has been rumored to counter these startups with a product of its own, creatively dubbed ‘iStream,’ for years; however, according to The Verge, it may about to become a reality:

Apple is expected to sign its first internet radio licensing agreement with a major record label perhaps as soon as next week, multiple sources with knowledge of the talks have told The Verge. Universal Music Group, the largest of the major record companies, has reached the final stages of the negotiations and Warner Music is close behind, the sources said.

If this is true — and The Verge does have an amazing track record — it would be logical to assume that such a service has been in the works for some time, and would likely be shown off at WWDC, potentially as a headlining feature of iOS 7. Would you use an Apple-created streaming service?

[The Verge]

Spotify is looking to expand its support for its free music streaming service, if rumors are to be believed. The Verge reports that Spotify is trying to negotiate with music labels to allow for this feature. Currently, Spotify’s free streaming service is ad-supported, and only available on a computer. This deal would see the free service expanding to mobile devices.

Spotify is one of the few alternatives to iTunes that is currently growing. Spotify’s biggest advantage is that it is streaming, and so can be transferred from device to device. Apple’s attempts to bring iTunes to the cloud have so far been met with little success, so it seems as if Spotify is trying to play its cards in a way that ensures that it will become the dominant music player on mobile.

Would you replace the venerable iTunes and iPod.app combination with Spotify?

[The Verge]