Is all music heading for the cloud?

David Bowie once said, ”Music itself is going to become like running water or electricity.” The latest data from the Recording Industry Association of America suggests that day will soon be upon us.

For the first time, streaming music has outsold physical product in the U.S. In the first half of this year, the music revenues of companies like Spotify, Pandora and YouTube jumped 23% to more than $1 billion.

Streaming now accounts for 32% of all sales, digital as a whole makes up 76% of the market.

Given that music sales numbers don’t include newer streaming services like Apple Music, it looks like streaming will surpass the value of downloads by next year.

Author: Donald Armbrecht is a freelance writer and social media producer. 

Image: A customer listens to a music CD in a FNAC department store in Nice, France, February 27, 2009. REUTERS/Eric Gaillard