With technology proliferating and companies booming it’s no wonder that streaming platforms for music have taken the spotlight in the latest ways for up-and-coming talent to promote the musical endeavors. Popular websites such as YouTube, Apple Music, Spotify, Bandcamp and SoundCloud are a hit with different artists for different reasons.

Music streaming has outnumbered the older approaches of downloading MP3 file formats to listen music from, burning discs, and buying CDs. Now, with one website, it is possible to find new artists, follow them, comment on their EP (depending on the streaming service), post your own music, create and save playlists, choose from preexisting playlists that match your mood, and download songs you like. The 2018 music industry witnessed the major source of revenue to come from streaming (75 percent), followed by physical payment (12 percent), digital downloads (11 percent), and synch (three percent). As it progressed, streaming grew 30 percent and performed at a $7.4 billion revenue.

And music influencers of all kinds are a part of this number. According to the research group, Midia, despite major record labels gaining nearly 70 percent of all of the music industry revenue, smaller, up-and-coming artists are growing exponentially—in fact, growing four times faster than the total 2018 global label market share. This means that artists that want to become more known within their respective music communities would do well to stream their originals and covers, if they aren’t already doing so. According to the official website of Bandcamp, artists have received a total of $529 million through the streaming service from fans paying to download songs. Further, in the past 30 days, this sum increased by $18.6 million. Could you be one of these paid musicians?

Everyday, millions of users of streaming sites search for new talent to tantalize their ear drums. In the United States, Apple Music, Spotify and SoundCloud all scored in the top 10 of most used platforms in 2018 and 2019. Between March 2018 and September 2019, the platforms’ user numbers slightly decreased (49.5 million to 44.5 million users for Apple Music; 47.7 million to 44.2 million users for Spotify). Whereas for SoundCloud, the number of users decreased substantially from 34.2 million to 15.31 million. Now, when users number in the millions, it isn’t as much of a dealbreaker. All three services still remain popular among music lovers and creators alike. It was even predicted that the 2019 decrease in streaming usage would occur due to the natural flow of revenue in these services as they reach their prime.

YouTube is one of what could be deemed as the “original” streaming sites, having originated a few years prior to ever-evolving platforms such as Spotify and SoundCloud. On YouTube, As of December 2018, 20 percent of all of the video views worldwide was for music related content. YouTube continues to be an accessible means of posting quality content online for the world to see.  Meanwhile, analytics such as amount of views your video receives are easy to navigate. This user-friendly approach is optimal for both seasoned professionals as well as beginners. Most musicians handle multiple streaming sites, and YouTube is usually one of their regulars.

With which platforms have you been experimenting? Comment down below.