The latest quarterly SoundScan report from Nielsen found further growth in music streaming and further declines in digital downloads. It found that 232 billion tracks were streamed in the first nine months of 2015, up 96.4% from the year-ago period. Continue Reading
Brief news items and worthy reads from around the web: Analyzing streaming revenues against GDP; SoundScan will include Bandzoogle sales; Apple’s redesigned mobile Music app. Continue Reading
Now that we’ve set off on a fresh new year, we’re getting some interesting and insightful perspectives on everything that transpired in the music world during 2014. Data scientists have had the time to collect final numbers and finish analyses. On Jan. 2, we got a preliminary look at the work of Nielsen SoundScan team, which showed a general trend of increased streaming and decreased sales. Today, we have the 2014 Nielsen Music U.S. Report to expand on those first finds. Continue Reading
Nielsen SoundScan released its 2014 year-end figures for both music sales and streaming in the U.S. Streaming totaled 164 billion songs, up 54% from the 106 billion songs streamed the previous year. According to the Wall Street Journal (paywall), the overall music consumption didn’t change extensively between 2013 and 2014 based on an equivalence where 1,500 song streams or 10 individual song downloads count as an album sale. Continue Reading
Nielsen Soundscan’s annual mid-year report, issued each June, shows the first half of 2014 continuing a definitive consumer migration from purchasing albums to streaming songs. The main takeaway from Nielsen’s mid-year report is that the trend toward streaming appears to be accelerating. In January, Nielsen’s full-year report of 2013 indicated 32% growth in streaming compared to 2012. In 2014, the year-over-year pace is +42% rise in streaming at the year’s midpoint. Continue Reading