Record label giants have made more money from streaming than downloads

jonathan

May 13, 2015 9:46 AM

This is the first time a big music label has hit that milestone, lending support to the view that the music industry has shifted from selling songs to selling subscriptions to listeners.

Mobile music streaming continues to grow, with increasing revenues from selling subscriptions becoming popular.

Warner Music Group has revealed that they have made more money from streaming in the last corner than selling downloads.

Streaming revenue from the company’s recorded music unit, generated by companies like Spotify and YouTube, grew 33 percent in Q2, Warner CEO Stephen Cooper announced during the company’s earnings call. Warner says digital revenue grew 7 percent overall — which means download sales from outlets like Apple’s iTunes decreased during the same period.

The news comes as the big music labels, including Warner, are pushing Spotify and YouTube to pull back on the free music they let users stream and concentrate more on paid subscriptions. That syncs up with the pitch Apple is making for its upcoming subscription service, which only provides a limited sample of free music.

“The rate of this growth has made it abundantly clear that in years to come, streaming will be the way that most people enjoy music,” Cooper said in a statement at the beginning of the call. “We’ll continue to collaborate with our streaming partners to expand their businesses, and more importantly, to ensure that copyright owners, artists and songwriters receive appropriate value for their work.”

Warner has made a point of licensing its music to a variety of digital platforms in the last year, including Snapchat, Vessel and Interlude.

jonathan

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