Leslie M. Meier explains that with technological changes, the music industry’s revenue has greatly shifted. The introduction of digital music, especially streaming services such as Spotify and Apple Music, has not only caused physical music sales to dwindle but has also created an influx of content that has allowed audiences the ability to choose when and what music they listen to (Meier 54; Fox 3). Stuart Dredge discusses this rise in streaming, noting that the year 2018 was significant for streaming services because the global steaming revenue grew by 34%, reaching 47% of total recorded music sales (Dredge, “Streaming Drove…”) (See Figure 2). Professor Jonathan Beard argues that, though streaming is clearly a main source of music consumption in modern society, it alone will not gain enough profit to support a music artist’s income (Beard 2019).
![](http://blog.richmond.edu/mus225-s03/files/2019/11/Recorded-Revenue.png)