A Spot on Spotify and Music's Evolving Format

My friend once told me, "I don't really use iTunes anymore." This was more than six years ago, when he introduced me to Spotify. I was wary of the idea to begin with. After all, music streaming was a foreign concept to the rest of us normal music lovers who bought tracks on iTunes and slowly amassed a digital library. What Spotify offered was, of course, access to a much vaster music collection, though you never actually downloaded the songs or stored them on your device. 

In fact, Spotify isn't just six years old. It was founded ten years ago in Sweden, and although it didn't make too big of a splash to begin with, it has essentially redefined the format of digital music in the past several years.

They're not unique, either. Apple Music offers a similar paid service. Competitor Deezer has gained plenty of attention, too. And they all seem to be getting lots of attention from the investing world; according to Billboard, Deezer recently announced $109 million in new funding. 

Check out the article in Billboard:

Is There a Music Tech Bubble?

They say that the biggest music streaming companies are already receiving multi-billion dollar valuations, which is a huge indicator of growth, given that Spotify, for example, is still in its investing stage. For now Spotify is focused on strategic development, and not on pure profitability. Obviously this is a concern for artists - until profits are turned, where are the royalties?

Although this new trend complicates matters with artists' compensation (for now), I'm still excited about it. It's a growing industry, and it's a great way to put more music in the hands of more fans.