Video may have killed the radio star, but Spotify and Apple Music are poised to resurrect him.
Streaming services are bringing in more revenue than CD sales and digital downloads for the first time in recording industry history, Reuters reported Tuesday.
A trade group released an annual music industry report that showed revenues up to $17.3 billion in 2017, an 8.1 percent jump from the year before. Paid music streaming services, like Apple Music, Spotify, and Tidal, have specifically helped move music lovers away from illegal downloads, which robbed the industry of sorely needed revenue.
Reuters reports that music sales dropped by 40 percent between 1999 and 2014, when download sales from programs like iTunes didn't compensate for the sudden drop in CD purchases and rise in music piracy. Now, the industry reports that 176 million users were paying for streaming subscriptions in 2017 — funneling that cash back to the industry. Read more at Reuters.