Music Streaming Is Now as Popular as Downloading in the US

According to a new study, people listen to as many streamed music as they do to their downloaded tracks in the US. The number of people streaming their music is on the rise and will overtake those listening to downloaded songs in the short-term future.

The study by NPD Group shows that, while listening to downloads has seen a small rise, streaming is growing at a much faster rate.

In March, 29 percent of Americans listened to a downloaded song, according to data from the market analysis company. However, that figure grew to 30 percent in August, from when the most recent data is available.

During that time though, streaming grew even bigger in popularity. While only 25 percent of US citizens streamed a song in March, 30 percent did so by August. Note that both studies have an 1 percent error rate.

Note that there is bound to be significant overlap between the two groups, but the study shows that more people stream songs than listen to the ones they have on their computers.

While the data doesn't cover sales, it can be a strong indicator for sales of digital music in the country, which has stagnated in recent years.

There are any number of streaming options for internet users, from dedicated sites to YouTube. While the Google video site is not focused on music, the popularity of music videos on YouTube indicate that a lot of people simply visit the site to listen to songs.

A previous study found that, for the youngest users, YouTube was the first and sometimes only means to getting music. Of course, any number of other streaming sites exist, either free or paid-for, from Pandora and Last.fm to Rdio or Grooveshark.

Note that the download listening numbers include tracks obtained from peer-to-peer networks or other, less than legal, means. The numbers would give some credence to what Spotify and others have been saying, free streaming could be an alternative to illegally downloading tracks for many.