With the huge decline in music revenues across the world, it is essential to examine the impact of changing habits of audience preferences for easier access to music. At the turn of the 21st century, the world is blessed with portable digital music devices such as MP3 players and iPods. This led to tech-savvy individuals continuing to access their music for free through piracy programs that followed in Napster's footsteps, namely Lime Wire and Kazaa. Only the streaming ecosystem has driven music revenues from their sharp decline. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The creation of Spotify in 2011 linked the demand for access to the music people wanted to listen to and legality. In an interview with The New Yorker, Spotify CEO Daniel Ek explained his inspiration for Napster, saying, "It kept coming back to me that Napster was such an incredible consumer experience, and I wanted to see if it could be a business viable. » It was widely believed that with the inevitability of technology's growth, piracy represented a more attractive model than legal methods, attracting those who would consider paying for a service to piracy. Ek goes on to explain, “It’s not like people want to be pirates. They just want to have a great experience. As of Ek's comments, Spotify as of September 2019 had 248 million monthly users worldwide, with 113 million paying subscribers and was part of the largest revenue sector for music sales since 2016. A problem highlighted by Spotify themselves in a letter to their investors in July 2019 was that they were "running out of subscriptions", which was later reported in worrying headlines, e.g. "Spotify now has 232 million users, but only half of them pay for music.” Despite this, Spotify, like all its competitors, offers a subscription service for its premium features, this is probably because "in the United States, subscription TV series, for example, have held up remarkably well to the recession.” Several music labels were quick to notice this effect, with Warner Music executives explaining that they were "optimistic about subscriptions." It is understood that Ek wanted to refuse a free music service, due to his admiration for Napster, but to remain in good standing. , “the idea of ​​selling subscriptions was instead imposed on Spotify by music licensees”. At the start of Ek's success, he said in an interview: "From the beginning, our vision was to offer a legal music service, as good or better than pirate sites, giving users free access to the entire world music. .” It is clear that with the combination of free ad-based services such as Spotify and YouTube, in conjunction with paid services, Ek has somewhat achieved its goal since music piracy is at an all-time low: “The Music Report from YouGov reveals that one in ten Britons (10%) download music illegally, compared to 18% five years ago. » Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Personalized Essay There is currently great concern about the rise of piracy in the music industry. A serious question arises about the future of the public and its viewing habits. The coming years will show whether individuals will spend the cost of different services or whether it will push the public to more..