At the 2017 Grammy Awards on February 12, Chance the Rapper made history by becoming the first artist to win a Grammy for a streaming-only album. Chance’s award winning album “Coloring Book” is the first collection of song that was not sold either digitally or in a physical album to ever receive a Grammy. Without selling a single physical copy of his music, Chance clinched the award for Best Rap Album, as well as Best New Artist and Best Rap Performance for the song “No Problem.”

This year was the first year that streaming-only music was eligible to win Grammy awards. The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has also recently began to count streaming towards an album’s gold and platinum certification. These changes usher in a new era of the music industry– one where free streaming services hold the same value as album sales.

With services such as Spotify, Soundcloud, Amazon Prime Music, and Apple Music, streaming has been gaining immense popularity among both artists and consumers. Since it’s conception in 2006, Spotify, the most popular music streaming app, has gained 100 million active users. In addition to that, Spotify also boasts 40 million paid subscribers.  

So, what does the popularity of streaming mean for the music industry? For users, the availability of streaming services seems idyllic. Have the sudden urge to listen to Hips Don’t Lie? Streaming services, especially free ones, make it easier than ever to reach any and every song at the touch of a button. But for artists, the deal may not be so sweet.

Streaming services have been notorious for not paying artists enough royalties to sustain themselves. In 2014, popstar Taylor Swift caused a stir when she pulled all of her music off of Spotify, saying, “Music is art, and art is important and rare. Important, rare things are valuable. Valuable things should be paid for.” Swifts complaints over the streaming service partially stemmed from the fact that Spotify pays artists less than a cent per play (between $0.006 and $0.0084, according to Spotify Artists).

Because of their easy access and wide availability, streaming sites find it far harder than traditional album sales to bring profit back to the artist. According to Spotify, 70% of their revenue is poured back into the music industry. However, because of large cuts to major record labels, artists such as Swift claim that they do not see much of the profit.

On the other hand, Chance the Rapper’s insistence on refusing to sign any major label and remain an independent artist over streaming sites proves that streaming can allow artists to make their own creative decisions. As Chance said in a lecture at Harvard’s Hiphop Archive and Research Institute, “Don’t make the music that they like. Make them like the music that you make.”

According to Billboard, streaming services also make it easier for listeners to discover new music, therefore benefiting emerging artists.

Like it or not, it is inevitable that streaming is only becoming more popular in the world of music, television, film, and other media.