Music streaming is actually great for concert ticket sales

51% of concert goers buy tickets to shows of artists they discovered through streaming, according to a new study by EventBrite. And while the average money spent per person on CDs and MP3s has fallen 48% from $35 in 2008 to $18 in 2014, spending on live music grew 65% from $29 to $48. So here’s the situation. Musicians either get onboard with streaming or they get left out of earning money. When I recently asked a major music artist their feelings about streaming, they told me “It’s like being ****ed in the *** while they smile at you. And they force you to smile too!” They might not like the hard facts of how technology is changing the record business, but it’s never going back to the way it was. Royalties payouts to artists from streaming are small right now, largely because only a fraction of the world’s music listeners use them (also, labels take lot). Eventually, if services like Spotify and Apple Music grow to a combined 350 million subscribers paying $10 a month, the revenue they earn for rights holders might replace the $30 billion in annual sales the music business enjoyed at its peak around 1999.