Streaming Music Only Just Now Started Making More Money Than CDs

This may come as a surprise to many of you, but revenue from streaming music only just surpassed that from the sale of CDs for the first time ever.

In 2014, CD sales generated $1.85 billion whereas services like Spotify and Pandora accounted for $1.87 billion.

It's kind of hard to believe the tallies are so close, but I suppose there are people out there still purchasing compact discs (yes, that's what CD stands for, children.)

However, those numbers continue to wane as streaming numbers have grown at a steady clip.

In 2013, streaming services made up 21 percent of the total revenue for the music industry. In 2014, that number jumped to 27 percent.

Physical sales, which include CDs and vinyls, made up 32 percent of the industry's total earnings for 2014.

The revenue from digital downloads also decreased in the past year due to the rise of streaming behemoths like Spotify.

Overall, the music industry generated $6.97 billion from recorded music in 2014, according to The New York Times. The total earnings dipped less than 0.5 percent from 2013.

Citations: Streaming Music Finally Makes More Money Than CDs (Huffington Post)