Digital Audio - Present Uses of Digital Audio

Present Uses of Digital Audio

With current digital audio technologies, the present uses of digital music have grown immensely. With a trade value of 4.6 billion dollars, the worldwide digital music market is transforming the way society listens to their music. From 2004 to 2010, there was a 1000% increase in the value of the digital music market. This number continues to increase with new ways to purchase digital audio, through digital stores like iTunes and from purchasing playlist premium services such as Spotify and Pandora’s premium options. In 2011, digital music provided 50.3% of all music purchases. Pirating has greatly hindered the economic growth of digital music, while free playlists have slowed the economic development of digital audio as well. Digital music integration with social media has been an innovative driving force for the music industry. With new formats, such as YouTube, Spotify and other Facebook applications, one can share music with their network with ease. The challenge of the music industry is finding how to harness the enthusiasm of social media and digital music to lead to song and album purchases rather than illegal downloads.