Are We Witnessing The Beginning Of The End For Free Music Streaming?

The new platform of music-listening is no longer the outdated LP, cassette, or CD (though the Vinyl industry has seen a new high this past year since 1986). Streaming is easier, more accessible, and cheaper for the consumer, not to mention the vast library of music to choose from in the palm of your hands. While great for the consumer, it is not as good for the producer. Musicians see a percentage of $.01 per play, and is divided up between labels, PR, the production of music, and eventually lands in the hand of the source of the music. However, the new source of income in the music industry is music streaming- and labels are no longer willing to subsidize its growth in the expense of their own profit.

Platforms, such as Spotify and Pandora, have two different subscriptions- premium, where the listener pays a monthly fee and listens ad-free; or "freemium," where the listener does not pay, and the revenue collected comes from subscription. Currently, the split is 50-50. Ina new move, Spotify has relented after years of negotiation to withhold albums for a certain period of time after an album's release to free tier subscribers. The reason being is that, while the music industry is not seeing the return that they once were in music production, the shift toward is inevitable and cannot be fought.  Nevertheless, advertisement/freemium memberships give less in royalties per listen, as compared to premium memberships. Therefore, Spotify is willing to make an incentive for consumers to go to premium to access the full library.

While this will be interesting to see how consumers respond to this change, and whether or not this change could turn to consumers wanting progression or regressing back to old habits, Spotify faces another challenge: going public. The face of music streaming has many potential troubles ahead- it will be interesting to see how it reacts and responds.

Flanagan, Andrew. "Are We Witnessing The Beginning Of The End For Free Music Streaming?" The Record. NPR.com. 5 April 2017.