Music streaming overtakes digital sales for first time

By Barry Eitel

SAN FRANCISCO

For the first time, more music was digitally streamed in the U.S. last year than bought online or otherwise, according to a report released Thursday by Nielsen.

Increasing by 76 percent compared to 2015, streaming boosted the entire music industry in 2016 and caused sales to rise 3 percent.

On platforms like Spotify, Google Play, Pandora and Apple Music, listeners streamed more than 250 billion songs.

Six songs surpassed 500 million streams in 2016, including Work by Rihanna, compared to three the previous year.

It was an impressive year for Canadian rapper Drake, who enjoyed 5.4 billion streams and beat out all others for that honor by a wide margin. He also topped digital song sales and his album, Views, earned the distinction of most consumed album. The 25 album by British singer Adele, released in 2015, and Lemonade by Beyonce were the second and third most heard albums, respectively.

“The music industry continues to grow at a healthy rate, and 2016 showed us that the landscape is evolving even more quickly than we have seen with other format shifts,” Nielsen senior vice president David Bakula said in a statement about the report. “Thanks to the rapid emergence of new technologies and channels for discovery and engagement, consumers are finding and listening to more music in new ways.”

Digital music sales continued a downward trend as online streaming exploded, the report said. Physical album sales decreased in 2016, too, but not as fast as digital.

A format many thought was long dead staged a comeback last year. Approximately 13 million vinyl albums were sold, more than any other year since Nielsen Music began in 1991.

Vinyl sales accounted for 11 percent of all physical album sales, continuing an upward trend since 2005.