The Music Industry Then and Now

A decade ago CD's were the dominant way of listening to music and the legal digital marketplace was just starting out. Today, there are over 400 authorized digital music services that offer over 12 million songs. According to CNN Money and Time Moneyland  digital sales make up almost 50.3% of total revenues for the music business in the United States. 
Now it’s no longer about CD's, it’s about being able to access music anytime, anywhere. Of course the business models are going to continue to evolve, but one thing will remain constant: it’s all about the music. More than anything else, music transports, transforms, and reconnects us. But behind the emotions and beyond the artist on the cover is an army of people who make the music play, from planning, developing and investing in your next favorite song.

The CEO of Headliner.fm, Mike Moore states that digital sales might not be the future.  Moore says that "Spotify's model will be used for music consumption in the future"; he goes on to say "that more consumers will pay for music streaming services rather tan paying for songs".
         

Music theft is real, ongoing, and ever changing. Both the volume of music piracy and the drop in revenues are staggering. Although digital sales are rising, they simply can’t make up the difference. Consider this in the decade Since Apple Launched iTunes; music sales in the U.S. dropped 47%.   According to the Institute for Policy Innovation the U.S. lost $27 billion in earnings and U.S. Federal, State, and Local governments lost $422 million in tax revues every year. Even thou ITunes has a host of competition from Rdio, Spotify and Pandora, this resulting fact is that music piracy in the U.S. economy lost $12.5 billion and 71,060 jobs.