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I would bet the drop in album sales is more likely due to the rise of Spotify and other streaming services than piracy.
by zaphar 8y ago
I would bet the drop in album sales is more likely due to the rise of Spotify and other streaming services than piracy.
- ricardobeat 8y agoThis. In fact researchers a few years back came to the conclusion that piracy increased sales due to easier discovery + exposure.
- EADGBE 8y agoCD sales have fallen since 2000. Spotify, in your example, came out 8 years later. https://www.statista.com/chart/12950/cd-sales-in-the-us/ https://www.statista.com/chart/12950/cd-sales-in-the-us/ Conversely, Napster was released in 1999.
- artwr 8y agoIllegal downloads surely had an impact in the 2000s era, but I think by now the amount of freely streamable content is by far the largest factor.
- intended 8y agoUnlikely - streaming expanded the market for music. I recall a report that showed that p2p networks acted primarily like a broadcast medium, which tuned to the most popular works. The entire free content model has arisen because of tacit acknowledgement of that fact. Youtube, hell everyone, applies those lessons today.
- EADGBE 8y agoAnd, as I pointed out originally, there was about an 8 year gap between demise of album sales and the prominence of streaming.
- briandear 8y agoIt is now, but the drop in record sales started before Spotify — it started with Napster and similar services. Spotify grew from a market reaction to those sales lost due to theft.