Music sales are going up for the first time in 14 years and piracy is going down, largely because it is stupid-easy to hear any song you want without being a digital thief.
"The music industry has adapted to the internet world, learned how to meet the needs of consumers and monetised the digital marketplace," according to IFPI executive Frances Moore.
Two reports released Tuesday prove the point and should make musicians and the executives who profit from their toil very happy. The IFPI Digital Music Report showed the global record industry grew by 0.3 percent in 2011. Yes, that says three-tenths of a percent. But still. An increase is an increase, and this was the biggest jump since 1998, when Savage Garden's Truly Madly Deeply (ewww) was a hit. Another report by the NPD group reported that use of peer-to-peer services to download music declined 17-percent in 2012.
Both reports credit the changes to the rising popularity of subscription services like Spotify and the ease with you can download music from Apple, Google and Amazon. Global digital revenues hit $5.6 billion in 2012, an increase of 9 percent over 2011.
It's no surprise that streaming subscription services saw the biggest increase. Music fans willing to fork over cash for the immediate gratification of hearing their newest favorite song increased 44 percent, to 20 million subscribers, in 2012.
The NPD's Annual Music Study 2012 says the biggest reason people quit trolling bittorrent and other services for free (stolen) music was the rise in free, legal music streaming that's available. NPD says nearly 50 percent of file sharers stopped or reduced their illegal music stealing ways because of a streaming service.
And while streaming services have quelled music piracy somewhat, the royalties from streamed music can be pretty meager with an artist making less than a penny per stream. So, if you really like an artist and don't want them to have to get a job at the local Dairy Queen, buy their album. Even if it is Savage Garden.
