Trends and transitions

摘要

Trends: it's neither easy nor accurate to assess an entire year from the perspective of late summer, but some trends are so strong that they will certainly continue to gain momentum. One is the growth of streaming as the preferred method of music delivery. Statistics from the Recording Industries Association of America (RIAA) for 2015 report that digital downloads and streaming accounted for approximately 34% each of the industry's American revenue. Downloads declined about 10% from the previous year, while streaming rose by 6%. Physical media - CDs and LPs - accounted for almost 29% of revenue. Worldwide, the purchase of physical media continues to decline, accounting for 39% of the industry's revenue in 2015, versus 46% the previous year.