It's no secret that revenues from recorded music have dropped dramatically over the past few years, but what does that really say about the state of the music industry?
We're currently seeing considerable growth in the amount of music being listened to online through streaming services. Artist royalties from such services nearly doubled from 2011 to 2012, and recorded music as a whole managed to generate just enough revenue to mark the first growth in global music sales since 1999.
I'm not suggesting that the nominal increase of 0.3{cb11fcc023a7235c940295f864ca26ce88af4cc22ecd87de716518c7393125a7} in revenue is any kind of indication that we're about to see any serious growth in recorded music sales in terms of revenue. However, I do believe that we are seeing quite a bit of uncharted growth in the music industry.
I'm not talking about growth in terms of dollars, rather growth in terms of the amount music that is being consumed.
Maybe it's time that we redefine the way we look at "growth" in the music industry.
I would contend that despite the decrease in revenues being brought in by recorded music sales, the average person is likely spending more hours listening to music, and they're listening to a wider variety of music.
