Is Streaming Music the Final Stop?

We've gone from the phonograph to vinyl, from cassettes to CDs, from downloads to the new napster-ization era of music, all leading to the main way we consumers listen to music nowadays: streaming.

I'm sure when Edison created the phonograph there was no way he could foresee the development of cassettes or vinyl, much less the creation of DSPs. Fundamentally, this begs the questions: Can we foresee what's next? Is streaming really the final stop on the road of the rapid evolution of music listening?

According to Nielsen's Music 360 study from 2014, a whooping 93% of the U.S. population listens to music— that's almost the whole damn pie! Out of the 93%, 75% of those people actively listen to music— that means not while they're in the car, doing work, or doing chores.

If ¾ of the country’s population actively listens to music, there’s a high chance there would be a market in the future for a more interactive, heightened musical experience. This might be a chance for a Virtual Reality or Augmented Reality experience market; it is already available in the video game industry, so just how long before it is adapted by the music industry?

Just like we may not be able to see what comes next in the music industry, we did not see this pandemic coming, nor the catastrophic effects it would have on the world. It has definitely changed the music industry (...for now?). You might assume streaming has become more popular while things to do and concerts to see are limited from now until who knows when! Well, that is not the case.

According to Geoff Mayfield's article "Why Are Music Streams Down If Everyone's Stuck at Home?" in Variety, during quarantine streaming numbers went down about 7.6%, while tv-streaming engagement went up 15-17% since quarantine began. Why is this? As to prove my point, and Geoff's, people are craving entertainment that gives them a higher level of human-to-human connection and interaction.

Because of these current, and likely future, unforeseen circumstances, it’s highly possible that streaming will evolve to become a more interactive experience, possibly mixing with the live industry and the VR and AR industries, as these provide a more interactive experience which would give people the “connection” they want.

Perhaps it’s the same for this generation with streaming as it was for Edison’s with the phonograph: maybe there is no way we can possibly foresee what comes next, in the near or far future. But, we can use various models and data to predict what comes next. Still, right now, we don’t need to predict what the next big thing after streaming will be in order to answer our questions: Can we foresee the future of music? Is streaming the final stop on the road of the rapid evolution of music streaming?

We just need to look at the world that is changing and evolving around us; as circumstances change, so do our needs— that includes the way we listen to and enjoy music. In my opinion, to say that streaming is the “final stop” is possibly just as naïve and short-sighted as saying that we are the only life in this universe. There is no possible way we could know that; there is no possible way we can know anything. What we do know is that as the world is rapidly changing, so are we.

Every generation has been different from the last: differing in their beliefs, in their needs, in their values— in the way they listen to music. Therefore, as the world, and as we, are ever-changing and ever-evolving, so is technology— including the way we listen to music.

(Written in 2020)