After years of declining sales, the
music industry has seen revenue increases the past two years. Do you think the
industry has finally found a way to adapt to the changes in ways people consume
music? Do you think that sales will continue to increase, flatten, or decline
in the coming years? Limit: 8 responses
Over the past few years, the music industry, in terms of revenue, has been on the rise. Thanks to streaming music apps and services, such as Spotify and Apple Music, the music industry is regaining its prominence in terms of a viable and successful ideas for how the public consumes and listens to music and turning that consistently into monetary value. Specifically, “For the second year in a row, the U.S. music industry produced double-digit growth, with total consumer spending on music growing to $8.72 billion, a 16.5 percent increase from the prior year of 2016, when those revenues reached almost $7.5 billion. That year, U.S music revenue had grown 11.5 percent from 2015’s $6.71 billion, according to the RIAA” (Christman). This recent growth was in response to a strong fall in revenue in the industry because of the rise of the Internet in America, and the ability for, mostly the younger public, to download music for free or listen to music on YouTube for free, therefore, causing a massive loss of revenue. Sites like LimeWire enabled people to illegally, yet simply and freely download music, thus loading up IPods with music that was never paid for.
ReplyDeleteHowever, now the Internet is bringing the music industry back to life, especially because of the booming industry of streaming and downloading music, after paying a small monthly fee do so, especially on Spotify and Apple Music. “Streaming is definitely leading the drive, and, specifically, paid subscriptions, as this category brings in a substantially higher ratio of revenue per user compared to its ad-based counterpart. In fact, the only thing holding back streaming from restoring the music business to its former self are ad-supported services like YouTube that pay creators pennies on the dollar compared to the amount of revenue they take in” (Cullins). Therefore, the American public, has found, at least for now, a successful method to consume music, by paying a mindless three to five dollars a month to listen to any and as much music as they want. A similar model to Netflix and Hulu, because ‘binge’ fans pay a mindless fee around $10 a month and watch as much content and shows as their heart desires, without thinking about it. Thus the music industry has seemingly found a way to adapt to the current state of the public’s wants and desires regarding consuming music content.
Additionally, because of this success, the future of the music industry could bring more new trends to help continue this success. Some foreseeable trends are, an increase in singles produced, higher volume of labels and more music money thrown around with more and more artists becoming successful in a booming music industry, more niche music with more and more people streaming with specific tastes, and potentially international expansion of new services to consume music content (Bromley). With this potential trends in mind, music sales and revenue should continue to increase, new ideas that a grown out of the success of streaming downloading music and around the idea of successful trends in the music industry should increase revenues for the foreseeable future. However, eventually it could flatten out, like in the past the music industry in terms of revenue goes up and down, and eventually a new and perhaps cheaper way to consume music content could come around. That could decrease revenues of the industry will come around just like illegal downloading in the past, thus the sales of the music industry should continue to decrease in the near future, and eventually flatten out, as a historical trend.
Works Cited
DeleteBromley, Jordan. “The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch (Guest Column).” Billboard, 23 Jan. 2018, www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/8095808/the-future-of-the-streaming-economy-5-things-to-watch-guest.
Christman, Ed. “U.S. Music Industry Hits Highest Revenue Mark in a Decade, Fueled by Paid Subscriptions.” Billboard, www.billboard.com/articles/business/8257558/us-music-industry-2017-highest-revenue-in-decade-fueled-paid-subscriptions.
Cullins, Ashley. “Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-experts-discuss-why-internet-is-saving-recording-industry-1078058.
The music industry has taken a full three-sixty in terms of what it used to be. Thankfully through the use of streaming applications, the industry has been able to adapt to new technologies in order to keep revenue flowing.
ReplyDeleteThe way that people consume music has fluctuated over the years. Speaking in terms of since I was born in 1996, we have gone from cassette tapes, to CDs, to MP3 players and now to digital downloading and streaming–and that’s just all in the last twenty years. It seems crazy that the music industry would have to alternatively distribute music and be so dependent on new technologies, but technology is ever-changing, and I’m sure we’ll see a totally different system twenty year from now when streaming appears “dated.”
In an article written by Ashley Cullins, she writes “the internet killed the music industry in the 2000s but now appears to be bringing it back to life. After a period of decline for physical sales, the past few years have seen streaming music services pump billions back into circulation (with $7.7 billion in total revenue in 2016, according to the Recording Industry Association of America).” (Cullins.) People are now paying for subscriptions instead of paying-per-song and it is definitely working in the favor of the industry.
There are so many music streaming applications–Apple Music, Spotify, Tidal and the list goes on, so why is this relevant? Why are these applications taking over?
In the early 2000’s, paying-per-song was ‘the way’ to download music unless you bought the physical copy of the CD or you downloaded illegally. In an article written by Jareen Imam, she explains that “Streaming sites are a big step away from the familiar Apple iTunes business model, which allows users to download a song or album and then upload it to an iPod, iPhone or other portable device.” (Imam.) The prices of song (referring to the iTunes store) were roughly sixty-nine or ninety-nine cents until Apple upgrades to the one dollar and twenty-nine cent price tag. If you bought ten songs in one month, you’re looking at an estimated total of over twelve dollars. Why spend twelve dollars when you can pay $9.99 a month and get unlimited access to music. Let’s be honest, we ditch those songs when we’re tired of them anyways.
The most popular of the streaming services seem to be Apple Music and Spotify. In an article written by Reuters, “Spotify is eying a $13 billion U.S. stock market listing by the end of this year or beginning of next year.” (Reuters.) Apple is not far behind. In the same article it states that Two years from its launch, Apple Music (AAPL, +0.20%) is the industry’s number two player with about 28 million paid users.” (Reuters.) The article also makes it clear that “unlike Spotify, it doesn’t have a free service.”
Whether you love it or hate it, we have to agree that it is extremely convenient. We have full access to digital content whenever we want and wherever we go. Systematically, I could hypothesize that this will evolve and change, but realistically streaming is not going away. I fully believe that revenue from these streaming services will continue to rise and they might just be changing all of the rules.
Cullins, Ashley. “Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-experts-discuss-why-internet-is-saving-recording-industry-1078058.
Imam, Jareen. “Young Listeners Opting to Stream, Not Own Music.” CNN, Cable News Network, 16 June 2012, www.cnn.com/2012/06/15/tech/web/music-streaming/index.html.
Reuters. “A Quick Guide to Apple Music, Spotify, and More Top Music Streaming Services.” Fortune, fortune.com/2017/09/11/spotify-apple-music-tidal-streaming/.
Lauren Tuckman
ReplyDeleteAfter years of declining sales, the music industry has seen revenue increases the past two years. The music industry has finally found a way to adapt to the changes in ways people consume music. Sales will continue to increase in the coming years because of the new generations who encourage these trends as consumer of the media.
Streaming is currently known as the “consumption” leader (Bromley). There are many developments in the new world with the streaming of the economy. Singles only is a popular development in the new world . With new music that comes from “playlisting,” more artists are, “dismissing” the normal album format and releasing their music on a song-to-song basis (Bromley). Another development the idea of more labels, more deals, and more money (Bromley). Smaller labels are beginning to win more often by offering a profit split with a low product delivery commitment which can bring in a lower production and marketing and promotion commitment as well (Bromley). If a label has only a little bit of money they can still find a hit and “run with it”,” and still be insanely successful (Bromley).
Lyor Cohen stated, “we’re entering the golden era of the music business” (Flys). YouTube has been progressively trying to launch a new paid subscription service, which constrain to music listeners (Flys). Attracting a smaller crowd of just music listeners makes it easier to focus on music and make it better in all aspects. YouTube claims that there are “plenty of leaned-in listeners that are willing to pay” (Flys). YouTube thinks that they are capable of converting these unpaid subscribers into paying consumers. If YouTube is successful in doing this it will increase there revenue and sales in the coming years.
When taking a look at the music industry the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry has shown that in 2016 there was a 5.0% growth, which was mainly approved to the mass adoption of streaming across the world (Rys). This is extremely different to about 15 years prior, where the record labels saw a decline of 40% in income. Corporate sales decreased and record shops went out of business (Rys). In the music industry executives said they got a “spirit of optimism,” when they observed the rapid increase in people who were willing to eventually pay for streaming services which were costing an average of $9.99 a month (Rys).
After many years of declining sales, things are looking up for the music industry. The music industry has seen revenue increases the past two years. The music industry has also found a new way to adapt to the changes in ways people consume music. The sales will continue to increase as the years go on because of the new generations introducing new trends to the media.
Works Cited
Bromley, Jordan. “The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch (Guest Column).” Billboard, 23 Jan. 2018, www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/8095808/the-future-of-the-streaming-economy-5-things-to-watch-guest.
Ellis-Petersen, Hannah. “How Streaming Saved the Music: Global Industry Revenues Hit £12bn.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 25 Apr. 2017, www.theguardian.com/business/2017/apr/25/2016-marks-tipping-point-for-music-industry-with-revenues-of-15bn.
Rys, Dan. “Lyor Cohen Says We're Entering 'Golden Era of the Music Business' in Career-Spanning SXSW Keynote.” Billboard, 14 Mar. 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/events/sxsw/8247169/lyor-cohen-sxsw-2018-keynote-youtube-def-jam-simmons+.
If the music industry was struggling before, they certainly aren’t now. Within the past few years, music executives have figured out the way people want to listen to their music –whenever they want. In fact, an article titled “Five Ways Streaming Has Changed the Music Industry” shows exactly how this is happening. It reads, “Steve Cooper, Warner Music chief executive, said streaming revenue is now double that of physical sales and tripe that of downloads” (Insider.Co.Uk). We have gone from listening to records, cassette tapes, CD’s, iPods, and now streaming online. Without digital, on-the-go technology, it’s safe to say people would not be listening to music the same way.
ReplyDeleteStreaming services has brought the music industry back to life. With platforms such as Apple Music, Pandora, YouTube and Spotify, people are apple to listen to any artist they want, band, and song at any time. If the application is not free, it is only a small fee per month to continue streaming all your favorite music. Perhaps one of the greatest things about this is you are able to listen to songs and musicians from the past, which keeps a lot of music circulating and popular.
Nowadays, people want all media delivered to them the same way; we want things fast and when we want them. With the internet and digital technology at our fingertips at all times, it’s no surprise the music industry had to adapt to these changes. Streaming services allow us to listen to music on the go. YouTube is firing up way to keep their audiences happy. In an article titled “Lyor Cohen Says We're Entering 'Golden Era of the Music Business' in Career-Spanning SXSW Keynote,” we learn that Youtube is about to launch a new paid subscription service, which will be centered around music listeners. According to YoutTube’s global head of music, Lyor Cohen, the service will “allow the company to build out its playlist ecosystem and allow artists, songwriters and labels to ‘engage with their fans with no hoops to jump through.” (Rys).
With streaming services moving quickly to keep up with listeners’ demands, I think that sales will only continue to increase over the years. When people get used to having the music they want at all times, it doesn’t seem likely that they’ll stray away from this- until something better comes along. According to an article titled, “The Future of the Streaming Economy- 5 things to Watch,” 70% of streams on Spotify are on songs that have been released to the public for over 18 months. It’s clear to see the advantages streaming music has on the industry; it keeps music circulating and allows listeners to explore music they may not of heard before.
WORKS CITED
ReplyDeleteGetty. "Five Ways Streaming Has Changed the Music Industry." BusinessInsider. N.p., 09 May 2017. Web. 02 Apr. 2018.
Bromley, Jordan. "The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch (Guest Column)." Billboard. N.p., 23 Jan. 2018. Web.
Rys, Dan. "Lyor Cohen Says We're Entering 'Golden Era of the Music Business' in Career-Spanning SXSW Keynote." Billboard, 14 Mar. 2018. Web.
Having gradually declining sales, the music industry was previously struggling for several years. Within the past two years, however, things are looking up for the business. Sales have started to increase. The main cause of the original decline in physical sales was the Internet since people no longer need to go to the store to buy the newest music. Ironically, the Internet is now the music industry’s saving grace.
ReplyDeleteStreaming has become part of the norm for music. It has grown rapidly and is now dominating the industry, with 51 percent of the industry’s revenue coming from streaming in 2016 (Boron). It is also responsible for the highest rate of growth in the industry since 1997 (Boron). Specifically, Apple Music and Spotify are the two largest players in the game and come to mind when “music streaming” is mentioned. Spotify currently has over 60 million paid subscribers and 140 active users (Reuters). Apple music has the second spot in music streaming services, only two years after launching, with 28 million paying subscribers (Reuters). These streaming services are becoming increasingly successful, seeing subscription numbers on the rise year after year. They have figured out how to use the Internet to their advantage, instead of it being their enemy. Instead of relying on the sales of physical copies, the industry has realized that money can be made off of offering all the music one person can dream of at their fingertips for a small price per month. Services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Amazon Music are changing the game for music, consistently increasing sales for the past two years.
With the way the past two years have been going, I don’t see things taking a hard turn and sales plummeting. It’s looking up for the music industry and that doesn’t seem like it will change any time soon. The industry finally has a grasp on how to use the Internet to make a profit, which will only grow and better their sales over the years to come. Many predict that subscription based services will see a large growth in subscribers. An article on Billboard discusses that Apple Music’s subscriber count is expected to break even with Spotify, if not surpass them in July of this year (Christman). Apple Music has steadily been growing at around four percent each month and Spotify around one to two percent monthly (Christman). Clearly, which streaming services will be the top players, which ones will stay, and which ones will flop, is something that is fairly uncertain in the future. These things change constantly as the industry continues to change and grow. Evidence predicts that Apple Music will dominate and Spotify might struggle, but only time will tell. Overall, the future of the music industry is looking bright and it doesn’t look like that will change any time soon.
Works Cited
Boron, Allison Johnelle. “What Does the Future Hold for Music Streaming?” AWAL, 11 Sept. 2017, www.awal.com/blog/what-the-future-holds-for-music-streaming.
Christman, Ed. “Apple Music, Spotify Battle Heats Up Again as Race for US Subscribers Gets Closer.” Billboard, 5 Feb. 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/business/8098161/apple-music-spotify-streaming-wars-subscribers-advantage.
Reuters. “A Quick Guide to Apple Music, Spotify, and More Top Music Streaming Services.” Fortune, fortune.com/2017/09/11/spotify-apple-music-tidal-streaming/.
Once upon a time, music consumers would have to go to the store to buy their music on a cassette tape and later a CD. Nowadays, all they have to do is take out their phone and they can listen to nearly any song ever created with just a few taps and without much in the way of payment. One would initially think this would hurt the music industry and it did for a little bit. Users were illegally downloading music from music sharing sites and uploading them to their devices. But then the music industry figured out how to use the sudden need for convenience to their advantage. “More than 80% of music’s revenues are derived from digital sources like streaming and downloads,” RIAA strategic data analysis svp Josh Friedlander told The Hollywood Reporter. This is thanks to on-demand streaming services like Apple Music and Spotify. Nielsen shows that on demand audio streaming went up 58.7% from 2016 to 2017. Sales, however, went down just under 20% for physical and digital sales. One thing I found interesting was how physical CD and vinyl sales spike way up during the fourth quarter which is during the holidays, seeing a 12.1% increase and a 13.8% increase, respectively. It makes sense - even though you can gift a digital download or streaming service, people prefer to give a physical gift.
ReplyDeleteAs for future sales of music, it seems that they have one huge adjustment, according to an article from NPR. “Musicians and labels have had to adjust to a world where they hold less control, because of the ways we listen now. Where once music distribution centered mostly around record stores, or radio disc jockeys — with whom musicians and labels typically had more symbiotic relationships — they're now forced to work with companies like Apple, Facebook and Google — for whom music is a cherry, not the sundae — and streaming companies like Spotify, who now hold sway over huge portions of their bank statements.” Once companies accept this and learn how to make money from this model, there is no reason sales would decline. They have to learn how to adapt in our ever-changing technological world. Obviously record companies want their music included on as many outlets as possible and the outlets want as much music as possible, so it’s a matter of meeting somewhere in the middle.
“2017 U.S. Music Year-End Report.” Nielsen, 3 Jan. 2018, www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/reports/2018/2017-music-us-year-end-report.html.
Cullins, Ashley. "Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry," The Hollywood Reporter 27 Jan. 2018. Web.
Flanagan, Andrew. “What Big Tech's Quarterly Reports Say About The Future Of Music.” NPR, NPR, 9 Feb. 2017, www.npr.org/sections/therecord/2017/02/09/513912687/what-big-techs-quarterly-reports-say-about-the-future-of-music.
Music streaming platforms have been expanding their user base for years now. Streaming music used to be much less popular. In 2010 there were 7.7 million people engaged in streaming platforms and sites. That number increased to 106.3 million in 2016 and is expected to be up to 221.5 million in 2020 (Statista). As the number of listeners increases, it is becoming apparent that this is the future of music. Platform users (Spotify, Apple, Amazon Prime and Tidal to name a few) can listen to music for free with advertisements or at a monthly fee on their phones, tablets and desktops. Streaming allows for more listens at a fraction of the price. A popular song purchase on iTunes has cost buyers $1.29 since 2009 (Stone). That means that buyers could not even buy ten songs with the same money used to purchase Spotify Premium for a month. Basic math is what led me to my own Spotify membership. Not to mention that with at least Spotify and Apple, subscribers (paying users) have the option to download their favorite playlists and options. There are simply more options with streaming services than there are for song and album purchases.
ReplyDeleteIt is not just streamed songs that have continued to increase. Music has tapped into the hipster market that has always been there for them with their vinyl sales. Vinyl LP sales are up 9% in the United States of America this past year and it has been increasing for the last twelve years. It’s the only option for music that is sold that has continued to see an increase (Crawford).
I think that streaming is the best thing that has happened to the music industry. People have a hard time spending money on music because it is something that they have gotten for free on the radio for a century. Music is background for for other activities like driving, cooking and cleaning for many people and it does not have much significance after that so they have no need or reason to make a purchase. Streaming is an easy way for people to listen to whatever they wish for free or for the price of a burrito at Chipotle with tax while giving the artist royalties and credit for their work. It is a win-win for everyone and with the data from Statista.com, it seems like it is a force to be reckoned with.
Crawford, Erin. “Nielson Music: 2017 Year-End Music Report.” United States of America, 2018.
“Global Streaming Music Subscribers 2017 | Statistic.” Statista, www.statista.com/statistics/669113/number-music-streaming-subscribers/.
Stone, Brad. “Making Sense of New Prices on Apple's ITunes.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Apr. 2009, bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/04/07/making-sense-of-apples-itunes-new-prices/.
Since the rise of technology, the way we consume information and media has changed drastically. The transition and progress that we have seen for ways to listen to music is quite impressive. That being said, this total flip caused the music industry to face years of declining sales. This comes as no surprise because what was once popular, like iPods, CD players, vinyls, MP3 players have completely lost their purpose since the launch of the smart phone. The consumption method has changed, but consumers desire for music is stronger than ever, ‘ according to Nielson’s music 360 2014 study, 93% of the U.S. population listens to music, spending more than 25 hours each week jamming out to their favorite tunes. In fact 75% of Americans say they actively choose to listen to music, which is more than they claim to chose to watch TV (73 %)…… and when it comes to how we’re listening, the story is largely a digital one. In any given week across America, 67% of music fans tap into the growing pipeline of streaming music to get their feet moving or just tune out the rest of the world. (Everyone listens to music, but how we listen is changing).
ReplyDeleteStreaming music is the best thing since sliced bread. The convenience of it is completely shaped for the millennial generation making it the one of the only ways young people listen to music. Streaming enables many different aspects of the music experience. For example, on platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, a user can stream music based on their mood as well as categorize their library in playlists. With both platforms, you are able to create playlists designed for yourself and in some cases, others. “ Think further about mood playlists, People streaming music based on playlists that fit their current mood. This is a major aggregate use of the streaming services, and one that brings real economy to the obscure and old” (The future of the streaming economy). Based on these facts, I would say that the music industry has already fully adjusted to the ways people consume music based on the applications that support it. I think that sales will continue to increase as more people switch over to the technology that is offered today. Despite this, there are some people who are against the music streaming experience. For example, Taylor Swift. In November 2017, fans waited for Swifts’ 6th album to release. They were disappointed to find out that the album would not be available to stream during its first week of sales. “ Swift has long been a critic of streaming services, which significantly undercut the earnings of artists themselves, writing in a 2014 opt-ed for The Wallstreet Journal that “music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.” (You’ll have to wait to listen to Taylor Swift’s reputation album on Spotify)
While I get where Taylor is coming from, I think that this mind set could really affect her sales in the future. I would not encourage her to stick to this movement based on the fact that more often than not, people are streaming their music. She could see sales decline on her albums if she refuses to conform to the newly traditional way of consuming music. One way she can create more hype for herself while also getting more money is by releasing singles. Now that streaming is so popular, artists are releasing singles instead of dropping 7-10 song albums. This brings them more money because when consumers see that one single is only available on a platform, they are inclined to sign up for a subscription and each song released will bring more revenue. “The digital business has been changing how artists develop their careers ever since Napster. Now we are seeing acts aim for releasing attention-grabbing singles without as much focus on the album, especially for up-and-coming acts. Everyone knows that streaming is here to stay and younger artists are really doing a great job of harnessing its power” (Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet is Now Saving the Recording Industry).
DeleteCullins, Ashley. “Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry.” The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Jan. 2018, www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/music-experts-discuss-why-internet-is-saving-recording-industry-1078058.
Bromley, Jordan. “The Future of the Streaming Economy: 5 Things to Watch (Guest Column).” Billboard, 23 Jan. 2018, www.billboard.com/biz/articles/news/record-labels/8095808/the-future-of-the-streaming-economy-5-things-to-watch-guest.
Reporters, Telegraph. “You'll Have to Wait to Listen to Taylor Swift's Reputation Album on Spotify.” The Telegraph, Telegraph Media Group, 8 Nov. 2017, www.telegraph.co.uk/music/artists/have-wait-listen-taylor-swifts-reputation-album-spotify/.
“Everyone Listens to Music, But How We Listen Is Changing.” What People Watch, Listen To and Buy, 22 Jan. 2015, www.nielsen.com/us/en/insights/news/2015/everyone-listens-to-music-but-how-we-listen-is-changing.html.
In my opinion, the music industry has done a good job recently of tweaking their business model to fit a changing media dynamic in the world. Music is one of the most lasting purchases one can make, for a song can stay close to one’s heart for years, and in some cases someone’s entire life and beyond. For this reason, I think that music will always stay relevant and a big part of society. The way in which music could potentially continue to face decline, as it did in that past couple years, is if is fails to adapt to the inevitable changes it will continue to face in the technological world. With the rapidity of change that technology and devices demand, the music industry is a direct victim of these changes for millions of Americans download music digitally and use streaming services. Specifically, data by Statistica shows that revenue from digital albums in the U.S. in 2017 amounted to 623.7 million dollars. This is a huge number, and is even down from the 2016 figure of 818 million dollars (Statistica).
ReplyDeleteDespite the interesting dip in digital sales from 2016 to 2017, the music industry has been rejuvenated, in a sense, by better adjusting their business models to revolve more around digital sales and streaming content. An article by Ed Christman on billboard explains how the music industry has seen “double-digit growth, with total consumer spending on music growing to $8.72 billion, a 16.5 percent increase from the prior year” (billboard). Much of this increase< I and others would argue, is due to the evolution of the industry to fit the internet age. While the music industry saw rapid decline with the emergence of the internet, it is now revitalizing itself because it figured out how to mold its business model in a way that revolves around streaming and internet content, rather than traditional CD and record sales. The emergence of the internet has surely thrown a monkey wrench into the business models of plenty of different big businesses, however many of these businesses can find a way to evolve in a way that can be beneficial for them in the end. In an article by The Hollywood Reporter, top music lawyer Donald Passman explains why those in the industry see reasons to feel optimistic. “The heartbeat is getting stronger/ It’s all due to streaming, which is finally taking off.” He admitted that while the growth is not as rapid as they would like initially, “in time the revenue will grow exponentially” (Hollywood reporter).
In short, the music industry us steadily climbing back to it’s old numbers in terms of revenue. The sales are simply now coming from a different place. Much like other forms of media discussed in this class, the music industry has had to confront the digital age head on, experiencing the rapid declines with which it can bring. Adapting to the times is the biggest key to staying afloat in a world of shorter attention spans and higher demands and the music industry seems to be coming to this realization. Streaming services are going to continue to grow exponentially, and so long as the music industry continues to evolve their business model to revolve around new internet based options, they will have no problem staying afloat and eventually soaring back up the charts and eventually reaching new levels.
Works Cited
Delete1. Christman, Ed. “Apple Music, Spotify Battle Heats Up Again as Race for US Subscribers Gets Closer.” Billboard, 5 Feb. 2018, www.billboard.com/articles/business/8098161/apple-music-spotify-streaming-wars-subscribers-advantage.
2. Cullins, Ashley. "Music Experts Discuss Why the Internet Is Now Saving the Recording Industry," The Hollywood Reporter 27 Jan. 2018. Web.
3. “Figure 2f from: Irimia R, Gottschling M (2016) Taxonomic Revision of Rochefortia Sw. (Ehretiaceae, Boraginales). Biodiversity Data Journal 4: e7720. Https://Doi.org/10.3897/BDJ.4.e7720.” doi:10.3897/bdj.4.e7720.figure2f.
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DeleteThe music industry has seen their sales drop tremendously yet have managed to find a new alternative on how to produce content. Only ten years ago were people buying music online through apple, or illegally downloading their music and Jimmy Iovine, the co-founder of Dre Beats and current apple employee, saw this as a huge problem as sales were dropping year after year. David Goldman, of CNN Money, had this to say about the music market in 2010 “Although the Recording Industry Association of America will report its official figures in the early spring, the trend has been very clear: RIAA has reported declining revenue in nine of the past 10 years, with album sales falling an average of 8% each year. Last decade was the first ever in which sales were lower going out than coming in. Total revenue from U.S. music sales and licensing plunged to $6.3 billion in 2009, according to Forrester Research. In 1999, that revenue figure topped $14.6 billion”. So how did the music industry save themselves from further decline as illegally downloading music became so popular? The answer is online streaming. Pandora was one of the first original streaming services that launched in September of 2005, however with Itunes and illegal downloading being so popular, Pandora never took off as other streaming services did when they first originally launched. Soundcloud and Spotify followed only a few years later and that’s when streaming music online began to take off. In that period from when Spotify launched in 2008 until Apple launched Apple music in September of 2013, Itunes (Apple owned) saw its music sales drop nearly 20%. However, it wasn’t until Apple launched Apple Music in which the music industry would trend in a different direction for good. Now the only way to watch or listen to music is through online streaming. In an article by, ED Christman, he goes on to claim that “At the end of October, about 18.2 million of Spotify’s 70 million paid subscribers worldwide were in the U.S., while Apple had about 15 million subscribers in the U.S., according to sources. For the full year of 2017, Billboard estimates that Apple added about 6 million paid subscribers in the U.S., while Spotify added about 5.2 million subscribers.” Those numbers don’t even include soundclouds subscribers and soundcloud produced 2 of XXL Freshman list members. Now for those of you who don’t know what the XXL freshman list is, it’s a highly respected magazine/article that deems the hottest up and coming rappers in the rap industry. Soundcloud is a platform where anyone can produce content and a lot of rappers have blown up through their soundcloud platforms. XXXtenaction was an underground soundcloud artist for years until a small altercation with drake in 2015. While I personally don’t enjoy much of his music, his production and numbers and hits on the billboards top 100 prove he’s the real deal with a legitimate fan base. This is just the beginning of the rise of the music industry as you have so many new voices and new types of music being created, and with how easy it is to put content out there, you’ll only continue to see more artists blow up and end up signing deals with labels. With all that being said, I do think Spotify has the smartest business model. Teaming up with Hulu was absolutely genius, as it will only gain them more subscribers. Otherwise, I believe each music streaming service will continue to grow and produce more content then the world has ever seen.
ReplyDeleteSources-
DeleteIvey, Justin. “The Songs That Made The 2017 XXL Freshmen Hot.” HipHopDX, 15 June 2017, hiphopdx.com/editorials/id.3788/title.the-songs-that-made-the-2017-xxl-freshmen-hot#.
Sutori, www.sutori.com/story/history-of-music-streaming.
“Apple Music, Spotify Battle Heats Up Again as Race for US Subscribers Gets Closer.” Billboard, www.billboard.com/articles/business/8098161/apple-music-spotify-streaming-wars-subscribers-advantage.
“Music's Lost Decade: Sales Cut in Half.” CNNMoney, Cable News Network, money.cnn.com/2010/02/02/news/companies/napster_music_industry/.