Stop us if you’ve heard this one before… Spotify doesn’t cannibalize Itunes sales it actually increases them… Uh huh. That was the rap they wanted us to believe. Smart and cautious artists and labels seem to have been right by avoiding Spotify.

In 2014 Itunes sales are reported to have declined by 12-14% and that is pretty much directly attributed to the cannibalization done by Spotify.

So here’s what they said in 2012…

Spotify Plays Can Increase iTunes Sales. Here’s Proof! | TechCrunch

… there’s no evidence of Spotify or other streaming services negatively impacting music sales. More data like this could encourage artists and labels to promote their streaming music presences, and push acts like The Black Keys and Paul McCartney who’ve pulled their catalogues from Spotify to come back.

Spotify launches new apps, as Universal again defends the service| CMU

Paul Smernicki did some more defending at a Guardian conference. According to Music Ally, Smernick told the conference: “We’ve looked really really hard for evidence of cannibalisation, almost unobjectively. Across the business, we’ve been unable to find that evidence. And in [European] markets where Spotify has launched, the growth in the digital business has been about 40%, in territories where it doesn’t it’s around 10%. There’s a healthy ecosystem and it can be served by many of those services”.

Spotify chief: streaming services boost music sales | The Telegraph UK

Speaking to digital music site Evolver.fm in a pre-Grammys interview, Ek strenuously denied that his streaming service cannibalises sales of music through services such as Apple’s iTunes.

“There’s not a shred of data to suggest that. In fact, all the information available points to streaming services helping to drive sales,” he said.

Does Streaming Cannibalize Albums? | Billboard

Wilson points out that the number of digital downloads has increased-up 15% for albums and 6% for tracks in the first 46 weeks of 2012, according to SoundScan-suggesting that the widespread availability of free on-demand streaming hasn’t led to a sales apocalypse.

Rhapsody chief executive Jon Irwin says, “The only thing streaming music cannibalizes is piracy.”

So there you have it.  Three years later and meanwhile back on earth the actual effects of Spotify on the transactional sales of recorded music have been a disaster. Which is why there are major changes happening at the major labels as Spotify licenses come up for renewal.