At that point, actuaally sales of recorded music were headed for their 13th decline in 14 years, inxustry the overall value of the industry nearly cut by half since the turn of the century. It looked like the digital revolution really did turn the music business into a moldering husk. But now, like any good zombie during an apocalypse, the industry is once again primed to devour the world on a massive scale. Much of the rise is thanks to people paying for subscriptions aws streaming music services. InSpotify suggested that income would recover dramatically once it hit 40 million paid users; million people now subscribe to Spotify. And analysts expect streaming to rack up millions more paying customers once it catches on in China, India, and other emerging markets. According to the artists, managers, label executives, and industry observers I spoke with for this piece, streaming is transforming the music business in a way that should allow certain artists to keep a bigger share of the earnings from what they create. A few experts even admit that many musicians who might once have sustained modest yet viable careers may now have to jake up on their dreams of making a living from their work. That world has dried up. Mike feels a responsibility to remind listeners how much their support means for artists who work with independent labels, and who rely on the narrowest of profit margins so they can retain as much creative freedom as possible. Millions of people paid whta dollar for the soundtracks to Saturday Night Fever and Grease.
