How Did You Contribute to the Music Industry’s Sales Increase?

Digital revenue comes in a variety of forms. Sales of downloaded singles and albums, from services like Apple’s iTunes, continue to grow. More promising for the industry, however, are subscription-based offerings, including Spotify, Rhapsody and Muve Music. The number of subscribers to services like these grew by 44 percent last year, to 20 million, the federation said.

Several new entrants are expected soon, including subscription services from Apple and Google, promising additional subscriber fees and licensing revenue for the record companies. Other sources of revenue, including royalties from musical performances and marketing uses of music, have also been growing.

For the first time since 1999, sales in the music industry are up. Did you help make this happen? Do you pay for a Spotify subscription? The last album I bought on iTunes was by Tegan and Sara a few weeks ago, and by The Lone Bellow before that. Adele was the number one seller, with 8.3 million albums sold (Taylor Swift and One Direction were also huge sellers).

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.