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April 30th, 2013
07:24 AM ET

iTunes at 10: the cracks are showing

Wait, the iTunes Store is 10 years old?

It's true, the digital media store was launched a decade ago this week - on April 28, 2003.

These days, it sells TV shows, movies, apps and books. But back then, it only sold music and marked a sea change for the recording industry.

iTunes became the largest music retailer on the planet by 2010. According to NPD, iTunes is currently responsible for 63% of all digital music sales - putting it well ahead of rivals like Amazon and Google.

The iTunes music store may still be the leader of the digital music arena but according to Nilay Patel, Managing Editor of The Verge, the cracks are starting to show.

The business model has hardly changed over ten years and a number of music streaming and subscription options are out there, grabbing the attention of a younger demographic.

After a decade of success, can Apple continue its dominance in digital music?

With competition coming from Pandora, Spotify and others that stream music online, Patel says, "iTunes itself needs to change to become a more Internet-centric service."

Apple is starting to move in that direction. But there's no time to lose.