The Music Industry Is Finally Making Money on Streaming
- Popularity of online listening offsets plunging album revenue
- U.S. industry poised for second straight year of sales growth
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After almost two decades of relentless decline caused by piracy and falling prices, the music business is enjoying a fragile recovery thanks to the growth of paid streaming services like Spotify Ltd. and Apple Music.
The U.S. industry is on pace to expand for the second straight year -- the first time that’s happened since the CD sales peaked in 1998 and 1999. Retail spending on recorded music grew 8.1 percent to $3.4 billion in the first half of 2016, according to a midyear report from the Recording Industry Association of America that was obtained by Bloomberg News.