Cloud music is still the future for Apple, Amazon -- really

(Credit: Greg Sandoval/Andrew Nusca/ CBS Interactive)

Given recent headlines about cloud music, you might be forgiven for thinking that the feature is huge with consumers.

Word came Monday that Apple has finally caught up to Google and Amazon and begun to stream songs from the company's cloud. The following day, CNET broke news that Amazon is very close to reaching agreements with the top four record companies that would let it run a licensed cloud music service. Music industry sources also told CNET that Google and the labels continue to discuss cloud licenses.

Interesting news. Now here's the reality: Consumer adoption of cloud music has been lackluster, multiple music industry insiders tell me. The cloud has not yet led to a spike in interest or music sales, the sources told CNET. Data from The NPD Group supports that conclusion, said Russ Crupnick, the research's company's senior vice president and industry analyst.

"Despite the hullabaloo about cloud music, it hasn't gotten traction yet," Crupnick said, "I looked at our latest numbers and unreleased data, and only about 6 percent of the Interne... [Read more]