Digital Music Downloads Decrease

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Streaming, not selling. That seems to be the latest trend in digital music these days. The mid-year figures from the Recording Industry Association of America are out. And they say the number of digital downloads has fallen four percent to $1.3 billion. Physical disc sales have dropped 17 percent. Meanwhile, free and paid music-streaming revenue has continued to grow. Revenue from paid subscriptions to services like Spotify and Rhapsody grew 25 percent — while revenue from free services like Pandora grew 22 percent.