The days of music being available exclusively though a physical record are long gone. Fans no longer race to record stores for new releases, instead music is instantly available either through downloads or streaming services. Listeners are able to access these online services from virtually anywhere with an Internet connection through mobile applications and web browsers.
Digital music sales have recently been embraced industry-wide
following the decline in physical album sales and piracy. Industry leaders had
been discovering new ways to engage fans and encourage downloads such as iTunes
Store exclusives, where content is unavailable in any other medium or platform. Artists like Beyoncé have recently released
content via iTunes digital download before making the content available across
other mediums.
The popularity of streaming services are causing further
change in the industry for artists, publishers and labels. According the
Neilsan SoundScan, in 2013, digital track sales decreased from 1.34 billion to
1.26 billion in the U.S. for the first time.
The same year over 118.1 billion songs were streamed through services
like YouTube, Pandora, Rhapsody and Spotify. Online streaming services range
from internet radio such as Pandora to on-demand services such as Spotify and
Rhapsody. As the market share for digital music consumption is growing, it is
predicted that personal radio will always be leader due to its ease in
listening.
McAlevey, T.. (2014, Aug. 7). Guest Post:
Forget the Rhetoric, Streaming Music Is Already Profitable. BillboardBiz Retrieved
Aug. 8, 2014, from http://www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/digital-and-mobile/6214054/guest-post-forget-the-rhetoric-streaming-music-is.
Luckerson, V. (2014). Spotify and YouTube Are
Just Killing Digital Music Sales. Time.Com,
1.
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