Reports: cannibalization

All forms of entertainment compete not only for the same time, but increasingly for the same digital real estate. As audio streaming platforms move towards all-in-one access to multiple formats, both platforms and content providers must understand the threats of substitution and cannibalisation from within.

In a few short years streaming has gone from being an interesting sideshow to the most important component of the recorded music market in terms of impact, innovation and disruption, though not in revenue terms. Indeed streaming still only represents 16% of all recorded music revenue but its growth is directly impacting virtually every other aspect of the industry.

Streaming has arrived and is here to stay, that much is clear. What is not is how it will impact existing music revenue streams. Though neither a business model nor a product, streaming is the lens through which the irresistible force of the shift from ownership to access is best understood.