It’s 2018 and the music industry is seeing its fastest growth in more than 20 years. Much of this growth can be attributed to the overwhelming popularity of music streaming services like Spotify, Tidal, and Apple Music. This new segment of the music industry has grown to equal roughly a quarter of the industry’s revenue.
To appreciate how far the music industry has progressed, let’s travel back to when all forms of music had to be performed live.
Early Beginnings
Until not so long ago, listening to music required the presence of performing musicians. The way mankind experiences music began to change by the end of the 19th century. This happened when phonograph and gramophones shellac records were first introduced.
In the 1920s, the discovery of electromagnetic waves made the electric-powered radio popular as a music-and-news broadcasting system. Two decades later, magnetic tapes and vinyl hit the market.
Eventually, the drop in vinyl record sales led to the invention of another technological innovation.
It was in the winter of 1982 when Billy Joel’s 52nd Street had the privilege of being the first commercially released album on the CD format in Japan. Years later, the compact disk became a massive consumer hit, with hundreds of millions manufactured by several companies around the world.
Re-writable CD (CD-RW) was introduced in 1997, taking the place of the floppy disk as the primary data storage device for PCs (oh, how far we’ve come). Unfortunately, this also meant the higher prevalence of piracy, as it was so much easier to transfer large amounts of data and replicate CDs.
Illegal Downloads
This was worsened by the digital audio sharing websites such as Limewire, Pirate Bay, BitTorrent and other similar sites. In short, the advent of the internet facilitated illegal downloads crippled profits of music rights holders.
In 2008, the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) claimed that only 5% of all music downloads were legal. Due to the dense amount of illegal downloading, many companies and agencies started creating alternative options for music lovers.
Through the years, the emergence of music download stores and the internet provided more convenient alternatives to downloading songs legally. However, the number of illegal downloads was still very high.
In 2010, Steve Jobs’ Apple iTunes that legally sells each track individually became the largest music vendor in the world. With the revolutionary iTunes Store, consumers could pay for their chosen singles instead of buying the whole album.
Streaming
And in comes the streaming era, thanks to new music services like Spotify, Apple Music, and Tidal. The rise of these subscription-based services helped the business recover. After a 20-year decline, we are finally seeing growth in the industry. We are talking about a double-digit growth.
According to the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), over 30 million people in the United States alone in 2017 are paying for a subscription streaming service. In January 2018, Spotify sets itself apart from its competitors. Spotify did this by having more than 170 million active users and more than 70 million paying subscribers worldwide.
The streaming industry had, due to its high popularity, made a major impact on illegal downloading. The simplicity of browsing artists, albums, and checking out new music daily was what propelled streaming. This makes for a very simple and easy way to browse millions of songs through streaming.
However, digital download sales have fallen over the past few years. Due to the decline, CDs and vinyl seem to be gaining back some popularity. But of course, nothing in comparison to revenue brought in from streaming.
Music Festivals
So what effect has the increasing access of music due to streaming done? Streaming has brought about, the interest of enthusiasts to live events to a peak. More artists are on tour, and more and more consumers allot money for 
buying tickets and merchandise. Festivals, concerts, and even smaller gigs have also suddenly become events people of all ages want to see and be seen.
In 2018, over a hundred thousand people are in attendance over the span of 6 days (two weekends) during Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival alone. Ultimately, the creation and enjoyment of great quality music is at a higher rate now than ever before.
The live sector, one of the most vibrant and profitable parts of the industry, understands that they offer not just music but an experience. Thus, they’re continuously in the move to improve elements that make live music experience an unforgettable one. And, although it’s an exciting time for those in this line of business, it’s not only them who benefit from this development in the music industry.
The other people who benefit from live music are the fans who experience the ecstatic and sensational feeling while attending a live concert; and not only do the elevated emotional feelings that put you in a mental bliss takeover, but you also reap the rewards of health benefits as well! (does it get any better?)
Overall
So how does attending live events positively benefit me, you ask? Well, according to a study by O2, attending a concert “increased participants feelings of wellbeing by 21%—with key markers across the happiness spectrum showing increases, including feelings of self-worth (+25%) and closeness to others (+25%) whilst mental stimulation climbed by an impressive 75%.”
So not only do you get to feel great while seeing your favorite artists perform, you also get to live longer. Now, we don’t really know if going to more concerts will extend your lifespan…but you won’t know unless you try, right? Nevertheless, attending an incredible live event of a lifetime is still a “win-win” situation.
