Music streaming revenues overtake CDs to hit $6.6bn globally

Streaming music revenues surpassed income from the sale of traditional formats for the first time last year, as the booming popularity the service put an end to the era of the CD. Revenue from music fans paying for services such as Spotify, Apple Music and Amazon Music surged more than 41% to $6.6bn (£4.7bn), accounting for more than 38% of the total global market for recorded music. The sale of physical formats, primarily CDs, fell 5.4% to $5.2bn to account for 30%. It marks a tipping point for the music industry, which has depended on income from CDs to fill record labels' coffers and artists' pockets since the 1980s. CD sales have been in decline for years as the industry was hammered by illegal piracy and failed to make much money as user numbers and margins fell in the early days of streaming.