Music in the digital age : streaming and downloading

Abstract

This study aims to see how streaming has impacted the music industry and whether downloading is still popular today; it also seeks to investigate which is the most preferred method of music consumption in Malta and how people use popular streaming services in our country. The study also investigates why people may prefer to stream music rather than download, even though streaming has become the more preferred form over the years in other countries. I prepared a questionnaire as preliminary research open to the general public which was made on Google Forms and shared on Facebook. A total of 127 people responded, with a large majority stating that they stream music with a large percentage paying a monthly subscription fee. I also carried out a second and final questionnaire open to 18-27-year olds to investigate which method is the most preferred in Malta among this age group. A total of 105 responded - 79% of respondents said that they stream music, and only 16.2% said that they download. Both questionnaires used a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Analogue radio still remains widely popular in Malta. Rather than just discuss music consumption habits in Malta alone, this study also explores the growing popularity of Spotify and other streaming services in general around the world. The study also demonstrates other ways of streaming or downloading such as Internet Radio and the conversion of audio from YouTube videos into MP3. It also looks into issues imposed by streaming and downloading.