Streaming music

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As a music streaming (also Music as a Service ) refers to the transfer of music offers via streaming audio for playback on computers or mobile devices with Internet access. In contrast to music downloads , with this distribution channel the user does not acquire pieces of music for free private use, but can only listen to songs in the stream or in a cached version that can be used to a limited extent. The various forms of music streaming include

  • Internet radios that broadcast an editorially specified program,
  • Audio-on-demand services, where the user can call up selected titles with advertisements from a limited range,
  • Music subscription services where you can choose freely from the range of different music labels for a flat fee,
  • Music publishing platforms such as Myspace and SoundCloud , which musicians use to promote their own music, as well as
  • Live streaming , i.e. live broadcasts of concerts and musical events over the Internet.

In a broader sense, the retrieval of music videos from video platforms is also included in music streaming.

development

Internet radio as the oldest form of music streaming came into being in the late 1990s and used the advantages of the Internet and Internet transmission options for the classic radio format. This was expanded to include pure music streams in a variety of gene reformats. Mobile use with special technology through to own Internet radio devices also developed in the 2000s.

A new variant of music streaming emerged in the mid-2000s. Around 2003, Myspace was a publishing platform that allowed musicians to offer personal information as well as music files that could be listened to as a stream. Many became popular in the community and record labels then signed the most promising talent. This in turn increased the popularity of the portal and many musicians decided not to have their own homepage in favor of a MySpace page. However, within a few years, the growing competition, but also its own problems, meant that MySpace lost its primacy to providers such as Facebook and SoundCloud .

With the increasing transmission speed of the Internet, the technical possibilities also expanded. In the 2010s, YouTube was a platform where you could publish your posts not only as an audio but also as a video stream. In addition, the content was no longer limited to music. Similar to MySpace, musicians can set up their own channels here in which they post their music videos. Initially, many videos were illegally uploaded to YouTube and other video portals and had to be deleted again. The offer was legalized through an agreement with the music industry, the platforms pay taxes that they generate through upstream promotional videos.

At the end of the decade, providers emerged who expanded the free, advertising-financed access to a paid, advertising-free offer ( freemium model): Customers can usually select and listen to any music title for a flat fee from an increased music contingent. Because of the calculable income, many music publishers also made their entire catalogs available for subscription streaming, which is why the popularity of this offer increased very quickly. The technical development also helped with the breakthrough: The fact that smartphones and tablets were becoming more and more universal devices for listening to music and at the same time the third and fourth generation of mobile networks continued to expand, streaming also became attractive for on the go. Even car manufacturers incorporated streaming reception into the design of their car models.

Music streaming in the music industry

While Internet radio was only an extension of classic radio, the distribution of music via audio and video platforms presented the music industry with a new challenge after file sharing. Increasing transmission speeds made retrieving music on the Internet more and more attractive and thus influenced the music market. It also opened up new opportunities to record music, which would lead to the loss of potential music buyers. Therefore, music streaming was established as a new form of distribution by allowing the portals to publish the music. For this purpose, compensation was agreed for each call or proportionate to the turnover that the platforms achieve with advertising.

In addition, the music industry used the platforms' popularity aggressively and published exclusive pieces of music and their own videos to promote their artists as well as new singles and albums. A milestone in 2012 was the video for the song Gangnam Style by the South Korean musician Psy , which exceeded one billion views on YouTube.

However, the offer of music tracks as streams directly from the catalog of the music labels was viewed with skepticism for a long time and only with the success of the music subscription service Spotify in Sweden did subscription streaming become a significant part of the music market worldwide. In 2011, streaming, including advertising-financed offers, made up 11.5 percent of digital sales with music; in 2013 it was already 20 percent. Total revenue from subscription streaming this year exceeded $ 1 billion with a total global music market volume of 15 billion. Streaming replaced music downloads as a growing market, which at the same time could no longer continue the rapid growth of the previous years.

There are regionally different developments in the spread of music streaming. When file sharing collapsed in Sweden in 2009 after the convictions in The Pirate Bay case , the local provider Spotify was able to take advantage of the loophole and establish itself as a legal alternative. The high availability of fast data transmission in Northern Europe also contributed to the success. The streaming service also outperformed legal sales of downloads and physical sound carriers. At the beginning of 2013 the share of streaming in the national music market was over 70 percent in Sweden and 66 percent in Norway. In Austria it was 25 percent, in Switzerland and Germany, however, only 7 and 4.7 percent respectively. At the beginning of 2014, 10% of Germans used subscription streaming services. The two most populous countries, China and India, also had the largest share of the digital market, more than half of which consisted of streaming offers, which made up around 40 and 30% of the total market, respectively. While music streaming also developed into an important part of the music market in the USA, South America and Australia, it remained of no great importance in Japan, the second largest music market, due to the licensing situation and the entire online sector.

A special feature of music streaming in the USA is that license income for the music retrieved is collected from the collecting society SoundExchange for the performers as well. With the classic radio stations, ASCAP and BMI only collect the contributions for the authors and the labels.

Despite the success of music streaming, the streaming concept is not unreservedly shared by a number of performers. At the end of 2011, Coldplay excluded their album Mylo Xyloto from streaming offers, but other works are available on the platforms. Other artists who refused to stream all or part of their work include Adele , Arcade Fire , Paul McCartney , Pink Floyd and Tom Waits .

But music listeners also show an ambivalent relationship to streaming. In surveys, music consumers repeatedly questioned whether they want to pay for subscription offers and preferred the “ownership” model (acquisition of files and sound carriers) to the “access model” (streaming).

In the study of global music listening habits, the Music Consumer Insight Report 2018 , the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) examined how music consumers aged 16–64 in 20 of the world's largest music markets deal with recorded music. According to this, almost half of the on-demand streaming music is heard on YouTube.

Streaming charts

Part of what streaming platforms offer is often a list of the best of the most frequently accessed streams to advertise their own offer. In particular, the number of views given for YouTube videos is often used to identify the popularity of a song or video. By evaluating the IP addresses of the callers, the accesses can largely be assigned to individual countries. Since the early 2010s, the official national music chart providers in many countries have also recorded streaming data in their own charts. There are different criteria for the selection of platforms and the type of streaming. Sweden is a pioneer in music streaming and added streaming data to the official Sverigetopplistan in October 2010 . In the USA, Billboard introduced on-demand songs charts in March 2012, and Media Control created the first streaming charts in Europe in May of the same year for Germany (top 20). In the USA, the streaming data first became part of the official Billboard Hot 100 in March 2013 and the number one in YouTube hits immediately became number one on the single charts. Since the beginning of 2014 subscription streaming has also been part of the German and Austrian charts , and since July of the same year it has also been part of the Swiss and British charts.

Streaming portals and services

Internet radio and aggregators
Music and video platforms
Music subscription services

User numbers in Germany

According to a survey from 2020, 76 percent of Internet users aged 16 and over in Germany listen to music via streaming services. One in four (24 percent) uses paid streaming offers. This enabled audio streaming to gain further popularity: in 2019, only 72 percent of Internet users aged 16 and over in Germany listened to music via streaming services, two thirds of them daily. In 2019, one in five not only used free offers, but also paid for music streaming.

Criticism of the contracts of streaming providers

The general terms and conditions (GTC) of streaming providers who offer their content for a fee have repeatedly come under fire. During a test in July 2013, Stiftung Warentest complained that there were “very clear defects” in the terms of use. Most of the shortcomings were found in the rdio service, where 40 clauses were illegal. In May 2014, the Federation of German Consumer Organizations (VZBV) examined the websites and general terms and conditions of 14 streaming services aimed at consumers , and also came to the conclusion that they were in many cases defective. As a result, 20 warnings were sent out, which most, but not all, companies took remedial action. One of the complaints was that services reserved the right to block or cancel access at any time or to pass on user data to third parties, in particular to Facebook , without consent in order to be able to place advertising. Many would also like to be able to change prices or other contract contents unilaterally after the conclusion of the contract. User data is also collected without the consent of the user in order to generate profiles from it. In addition, the terms of use are unreasonably long. Eight services also did not have a legal imprint, so that it is more difficult for consumers to take action against the operator in the event of a dispute.

See also

literature

swell

  1. ↑ Jonathan Dörr: Music as a Service. A new business model for digital music . Zugl .: Munich, Univ., Diss., 2012. Berlin. epubli. 2012. ISBN 978-3-8442-1671-4
  2. ↑ Music streaming in the car in 2012? ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gideon Gottfried, Musikmarkt, January 12, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  3. ↑ Sweden: Spotify trumps iTunes ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Music market, August 12, 2009 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  4. ↑ IFPI Report 2013: Global music business grows by 0.2 percent ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Music Market, April 8, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  5. ↑ a b Music industry 2013: Streaming services boost the global music market ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Lothar Scholz, Musikmarkt, March 18, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  6. ↑ a b Is Streaming the Next Big Thing? - an international market analysis , Peter Tschmuck, Musikwirtschaftsforschung, May 16, 2013
  7. ↑ Streaming: Musikmark Sweden grows by twelve percent ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Music Market, July 23, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  8. ↑ Norway: Sales increase by 17 percent thanks to streaming ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Music Market, July 12, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  9. ↑ Austria: Streaming sales increase by 300 percent ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Music Market, August 9, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  10. ↑ Music market Switzerland 2013: minus twelve percent, bottom still not reached ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Markus Ganz, Musikmarkt, March 27, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  11. ↑ German music business: 1.2 percent growth, streaming sales almost doubled ( memento of the original from April 11, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gideon Gottfried, Musikmarkt, March 6, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  12. ↑ Streaming reaches ten percent of the German population ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Martina Gabric, music market, March 13, 2014 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  13. ↑ ARIA Wholesale Figures 2013 , ARIA, February 28, 2014
  14. ↑ Pandora: No longer interested in lower rates? ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gideon Gottfried, Musikmarkt, November 27, 2013 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  15. ↑ Coldplay's Mylo Xyloto won't be streaming on Spotify , Sean Michaels, The Guardian, October 27, 2012
  16. ↑ Spotify: CEO Daniel Ek defends streaming services ( Memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Gideon Gottfried, Musikmarkt, February 14, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  17. ↑ Is Streaming the Next Big Thing? - What consumers want , Peter Tschmuck, Musikwirtschaftsforschung, October 21, 2013
  18. ↑ possession vs. Streaming: Consumers prefer their own music collection ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Verena Diersch, Musikmarkt, September 19, 2011 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  19. ↑ Swiss people don't want to pay for streaming , 20 minutes, December 3, 2013
  20. ↑ IFPI releases 2018 music consumer insight report In: ifpi.org, October 9, 2018, accessed on October 12, 2018.
  21. ^ 'Billboard' factors in streaming music for charts , Edna Gundersen, USA Today, March 14, 2012
  22. ↑ media control starts the first streaming charts across Europe ( memento of the original from March 28, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Martina Gabric, Musikmarkt, May 7, 2012 @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.musikmarkt.de
  23. ↑ Deutschlandfunk Nova: Record: Audio streaming increasingly popular. July 17, 2020, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  24. ↑ Audio streaming remains on a growth path. Bitkom press release. July 17, 2020, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  25. ↑ Audio streaming continues to grow. Bitkom press release. July 4, 2019, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  26. ↑ Diana Künstler: Consumer Technology is facing a radical change. September 4, 2019, accessed July 31, 2020 .
  27. ↑ Stiftung Warentest: Music streaming services: 20 million songs for PC and smartphone: The bad ones . In: test No. 7/2013. July 5, 2013. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  28. ↑ Federation of German Consumer Organizations: Streaming services fall through the general terms and conditions check . Significant deficiencies in terms of contract and imprint . May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.

Web links

Wiktionary: Music streaming  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations