Where Data Tells the Story
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The music industry has gone through multiple reinventions over the past 50 years, each driven by technology. From vinyl and cassettes to CDs, physical formats dominated for decades, peaking in the late 1990s before the digital disruption began.
The launch of Napster in 1999 marked a turning point, triggering a steep decline in physical sales. Digital downloads briefly filled the gap in the 2000s, but it wasn’t enough to offset the broader decline as piracy and changing consumer habits reshaped the industry.
The real recovery came with streaming. Platforms like Spotify and Apple Music transformed how music is consumed, turning ownership into access. Today, streaming accounts for the vast majority of revenue, pushing the industry back into growth, though in a very different form from its physical-era peak.