Streaming makes up 80% of the music industry's revenue

[Morphine Prince 106,659]

More people are streaming music through services like Apple Music and Spotify, and the record industry is seeing a major lift.

Revenue made from streaming services in the United States grew by 26 percent in the first six months of the year, according to trade group Recording Industry Association of America, as reported by The Wall Street Journal. That makes for a revenue of $4.3 billion, according to research conducted by the group, which represents approximately 80 percent of the music industry’s overall revenue.

Although this included both paid subscriptions and ad-supported streams, the report also found that paid subscriptions grew by 31 percent, accounting for 62 percent of the industry’s total revenue. Spotify has more than 100 million subscribers, and Apple Music boasts 56 million paid subscribers. The record industry in the US saw an 18 percent increase in revenue — hitting $5.4 billion — in the first six months of 2019.

It’s not just streaming that’s helping the industry see a boost, though: physical media sales also jumped. Both vinyl and CDs saw increases in sales, growing 5 and 13 percent, respectively. CD sales made up roughly $485 million of the industry’s revenue over the first six months of the year, and vinyl sales brought in an additional $224 million.

Source: https://www.theverge.com/2019/9/6/20852568/streaming-revenue-growth-spotify-apple-music-industry-ariana-grande-drake-taylor-swift

 

[Gypsy Life 118,907]

Shallow's impact

[SeasonOfTheWitch 3,789]

[FATCAT 60,264]

who's gonna buy an album for $12 when you can get every single song on every single album, like ever, for that a month? It's downright wild that we even got here

[PartySick 161,532]

1 minute ago, FATCAT said:

who's gonna buy an album for $12 when you can get every single song on every single album, like ever, for that a month? It's downright wild that we even got here

Me

I still like having physical copies of my favorite albums but I also pay for Spotify premium for that very reason.

I've discovered a lot of good music through Spotify that I otherwise wouldn't have found

[SeasonOfTheWitch 3,789]

4 minutes ago, FATCAT said:

who's gonna buy an album for $12 when you can get every single song on every single album, like ever, for that a month? It's downright wild that we even got here

Fans 

[FATCAT 60,264]

12 minutes ago, SeasonOfTheWitch said:

Fans 

Well, yea, but I was thinking more of "why is it that high" question 

[Judas Society 3,584]

I really think streaming is good for heavy listeners who listens to music 24 hours/day or most of the day. If I have to pay a sum monthly, combined with the amount of times I listen to a particular song or songs, I'm gonna be paying way more than buying a song. Perhaps I'm still living in the dark ages where I don't listen to music for most of my day. Even when I'm home, I may be watching a tv series or reading a book. I may not be listening to an album or a song.

In the long run, I pay more to maintain my subscription than my worth of music consumption. Not to mention, you may be paying for other subscription services like Netflix/Hulu/Disney+ etc. It will end up like an electric bill where your monthly commitment will baloon up and you will lose more financial flexibility.

So, I'm not really into streaming due to my daily habits, though it is convenient to have a place where you can find all the music/movies/tv series you love and you can pick and choose what to listen/watch.

[KURUSHITOVSKA 20,451]

Still what makes more money are tours. Maybe streams are for the record labels but tours are for the artist

[weed 74,362]

it's like buy an album each month but u have access to every album or you just buy the albums u want individually for full cost.. streaming makes sense I just wish it was less malleable/playlists had less power

[alextruper17 8,908]

I dislike this but it is what it is

I guess it's better

[Mikemarble 50]

ha ha!!!

 

 

[JustinTrudeau 2,419]

I personally don't like streaming too much. At work, I use the free Spotify and because I'm very VERY picky with my songs, I just listen to my "liked" playlist with ~40 songs on repeat. My pet peeve is that if I select an album, it plays me suggested songs as the first or second ones which bug me a lot.

I buy my music from iTunes and listen from my library at home constantly from it. I'm too lazy to transfer my song files to my Android, but when I have time, I'll get around to it.

My car was built in 2008, so I still use CDs.

But I'm aware I'm in the minority. 

[Gagaism 11,996]

I think the streaming platforms are great because they’re “cheaper” and more accessible to people to hear and discovery new music. Music can be more universal by them and this is admirable.

On the other hand, it’s fantastic to have a CD or Vinyl of an artist you like in your hands. It’s an experience seeing thorough all the booklets, the photos and the art in general on physical stuff.

Im slowly getting Gaga’s stuff, for example today I’ve just bought TFM with the brunette cover, applause, Alejandro and BTW singles and this is VERY exciting