Streaming Music Sales Beats Physical Music Sales in first half of 2015, reveals RIAA

For the first time, streaming music sales has surpassed physical music sales in the United States as revealed by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

If this trend continues to occur, streaming will overtake digital download sales as well. In fact, this trend will become obvious by the end of next year itself.

Yet as some parts of the music industry boomed, there were others that shrank very rapidly. On the whole, the industry has remained as flat as the results in the first half of 2015.

Chairman of the RIAA, Cary Sherman, puts things in perspective, in saying, “The data continues to reflect the story of a business undergoing an enormous transformation.”

Until now, streaming accounts for almost one-third of overall spending on music sales (about $1 billion) and this is likely to accelerate going forward. Of course, this doesn’t reflect the sales made by Apple’s new streaming service that began on the last day of the first half of 2015.

Also, BMI has decided to implement a new bonus system for the songs that perform best on certain music streaming services. In numbers, this will amount to a 25 percent increase for qualifying songs and which will be wonderful for both publishers as well as songwriters.

Finally, the U.S Copyright Office has revealed that the rates decided between Pandora and Merlin Network will be a key factor in determining royalties for songs that are played over the internet. The company will definitely breathe a sigh of relief as they were experiencing difficulties in turning a profit due to high rates.