A Indústria Da Música Cresceu 8% Na Primeira Metade De 2016 Graças ao Streaming

The Music Industry Grew 8% In The First Half Of 2016, Thanks To Streaming

First of all thanks to Hugh McIntyre  for this article.

While times have never been tougher for the bank accounts of many musicians, the music industry is growing again, and the future looks bright for recorded music, and the thanks belong almost exclusively to streaming sites.

The RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America) released its 2016 Mid-Year Report this morning, and the numbers are encouraging, which is something the business is getting used to once again. The recorded music industry—that is, money made from selling or streaming song and albums, and which does not include publishing rights, ticket sales, merchandising, or other avenues—is up to $3.4 billion in revenues for the first half of 2016, which is a very promising number. The business has grown 8.1% since the same time period in 2015, which is the strongest growth seen since the late 90s.

While the sale of digital downloads, albums, and all things physical are certainly still important, they no longer compare to the money being brought in by the multitude of streaming services, which have quickly become the driver for growth and exactly what the industry needs more of.

The first half of this year saw revenues from streaming music sources climb 57% from the same time period last year, and the amount earned is now up to $1.6 billion. That figure means that streaming now accounts for 47% of all recorded music revenue. The category was only responsible for 32% of the same kind of revenue during the first half of 2015, so it’s clear that the growth is both increasing sharply and incredibly important.

When it comes to streaming, everything seems to be climbing upwards, from the dollars brought in to the amount of subscribers to the number of players in the game. In fact, both revenues from subscriptions and the number of subscribers have doubled from the first half of 2016. Revenues from subscription services alone passed the very important $1 billion milestone for the first six months of this year, which marks a first for the vertical. Paid subscriptions, which the industry values above all else, are up 101% to 18.3 million in just the U.S. alone, and that’s a figure that is sure to continue to rise.

Many in the music industry still argue that streaming is hurting the industry overall, but numbers show that the bleeding has stopped, and the business is finally on the upswing. Gains made in the streaming sector have more than offset the losses when it comes digital downloads and physical CDs and vinyl, and the more companies that begin offering streaming packages, the better. These figures take into account revenues brought in from on-demand platforms like Spotify and Apple Music, internet radio services such as Pandora and Sirius XM, as well as those sites that don’t require subscriptions, like YouTube and Vevo. 

The entire digital market is now up to $2.7 billion in revenues, which makes up almost all of the recorded music industry. Digital revenues, be they from streaming or the sale of albums or songs not on a physical format, are now responsible for 80% of the overall music business, which is up from 74% in the first half of 2015.