Thoughts on Music Streaming from a Music Student

My generation was born into the age of declining CD sales and the birth of something called the internet. The former is an obvious reaction to the second. It shouldn’t come as a surprise that one can browse the web and find a “torrented” copy of Adele’s new album in minuets. Yet we are breaking into a time when one doesn’t need to go through some sketchy website to find todays newest jams or carry 32 gigabytes of music on our phone. Through an idea known as “freemium” I can listen to virtually any song for free with the price of an occasional add and the space of an app.

I currently subscribe to Spotify Premium at the cost of $5.99/month (student discount). I’ve been subscribed to the service for the past two years after using the free version a year before that. I’ve came to the conclusion of don’t hurt the industry that you’re trying to work for…Yes, my dream career is to work for Spotify. So I have no problem shelling out a measly $6 to have access to millions of tracks.

So yes I may be bias to the idea of streaming but here are my 2 cents. Streaming in many ways will do wonders for the music industry.

• Music has never before been accessible in the way it is today
• It has also never been easier to reach an audience
• Streaming brings us away from the physical music medium
• Provides an arena of competition that drives new ideas and services through companies like Tidal, Apple Music, and Spotify

Yet streaming has its current downfalls.

• The time of “owned” music may be coming to an end
• Royalties payed out to artists aren’t ideal

My thoughts again side more toward an industry thats shaking up an even bigger industry but my honest opinion is streaming is here for good. It may take a bit longer for the “fairness” aspect to catch up with everything. Yet I’m in my early twenties so I’m here for the long haul. I want the music industry to thrive in the future and as the world moves forward the crazy ever changing world of music as to move forward as well.