For this week's Music Monday, I wanted to talk a little about an issue within the music industry that's been making headlines allover music news providers.
Streaming music has been a service available for quite some time now (Spotify was created in 2006 & iTunes Radio began streaming in 2013) and has slowly, but surely, grown to takeover the online music world as the years have gone by.

".. reports claim that by the end of 2014, 37m people around the world will be paying for streaming music, while 210m will be listening for free on advertising-supported services. It also warns that 45% of people who buy downloads are now also streaming music, and that so far." (Source)

It's been obvious that record sales have gone down, and it's almost clear the main reason why. People are no longer feeling the need to pay for individual singles (Priced at $1.29 on iTunes, $0.99 on Amazon... generally) or purchasing full physical albums in-store when they can pay a low-cost fee (usually around $8-$10) once a month and get unlimited music and plays, free of charge. Services like iTunes Radio, Pandora, and Spotify offer free streaming that plays with commercial interruptions, however, the commercials are nothing longer than a minute, usually, and are not that bad of a wait. It just makes more sense financially.

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To be honest, I, myself, am a music streamer. I have a membership with Spotify and I really enjoy the huge library of music I get to choose songs from to make a playlist with and stream virtually anywhere I go. I've stopped using iTunes almost entirely and haven't purchased a single or an album unless it was a Gaga album or single (.. and Beyonce's latest album!). For someone who enjoys and collects physical albums, it's sad to see the music world transform not only into the digital phase, but into another level of digital music - streaming, but, I do understand this industry is ever evolving and I have grown to enjoy what it has evolved to.

Since I am ideally going to be entering the music industry it's only natural that I try to figure it I am entering in a time where I, along with whoever I will be working with, have to find solutions and ideas to help the industry avoid losing profits, and instead, flourish. Album and single sales don't necessarily make up the entirety of the industry's profits but it is certainly a form of income that labels can't really do without. That being said, I haven't necessarily came up with an idea that can "save the industry" however, I do think record labels should work full force to work hand-in-hand with streaming companies as opposed to working against them. If the two work together entirely, money can be saved, stress will be lowered, and in the end everyone would be... happier? I know it's a lot easier said than done, however, if they  slowly begin to work together, they can tackle the growing separation between stream users and album/song purchasers.

Thanks for reading about my thoughts on this issue within the industry.. let me know if you have any ideas regarding this issue!