Even though the worldwide revenues for the music industry dropped by almost 4 percent, there one’s piece of good news that cannot be ignored: streaming.
According to the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI), growth is occurring due to streaming, and services such as Deezer and Spotify are driving this change for the better.
A report suggests that revenue from streaming services such as these increased by 51 percent in 2013, making almost $1 billion last year.
This trend, which offers figures worldwide, was also reflected in British data as well, with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) also registering an increase in income from streaming services by 41 percent since last year. This helped the growth of the British industry by 1.9 percent and which amounted to 730 million pounds.
It’s clear that despite the death of sales of the music CD, streaming is now becoming a source of income.
In fact, Spotify also claimed that almost $500 million in royalties were paid out to those holding the rights on the songs – a figure that was equal to the amount that was paid for the last four years.
With almost 24 million Spotify subscribers, the business model that focuses on building its base seeks to give back the cash to the recording companies who in turn, would give it back to the artists themselves.
Since Spotify is a start-up company, it isn’t showing any anxiousness about its losses in recent times, thanks to these heavy payouts to the music industry.
And although their aim is to have a presence in every country, one wonders whether this positive trend (and the profits that come with it!) for the music industry will last.
