Streaming Brings New Life to the Fiber Optic Hand Music Industry

Harry Styles' latest song, “As It Was,” set a Guinness World Record as the most played song by a male artist on Spotify, reaching the landmark in just 24 hours. This marks a milestone in the present and future of a trend in the music industry, with apparently no turning back, where consumers are listening to music on various internet applications en masse. 

Today streaming, more than the CDs or vinyl records, is behind the recent growth of music revenues in an industry that had appeared to have stopped.

According to the annual report of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI)[1], global music industry revenues increased by almost 20 percent in 2021, driven by the rise of streaming platforms, which were responsible for 65 percent of the sector's revenues.

The publication notes that total streaming revenue reached US$16.9 billion in 2021. This figure includes advertising-funded streaming and US$12.3 billion from the 523 million subscribers to audio and video streaming services.

There is no doubt that streaming platforms have revolutionized the way people enjoy music. Decades ago, users would download their favorite songs illegally, for example, or on insecure platforms; but with the advent of the digital revolution, tools such as Last.fm, Spotify, Deezer, YouTube, Tidal, Qobuz, Apple Music, and Amazon Music have become the ideal sites for music and its dissemination.

Behind the music streaming boom are the technological platforms that ensure its proper functioning, relying on tools, such as fiber optics and low latency networks, which have been transformed into the preferred connection for these types of services, since they guarantee the various parameters necessary to develop a satisfactory streaming experience, such as greater stability in the signal, in addition to having a high-quality transmission of audio and video in real time. In short, fiber optic internet access networks provide the best guarantee of user and audiophile experience, speed and efficiency that can be found today.

When it comes to HiFi (High Fidelity) or even HiRes (High Resolution) quality music streaming, the recommendation is to use symmetrical, high-bandwidth internet connections to support these types of services, providing the same upload speed as the download speed, so that the data packets sent are transmitted at the same speed as those received, thus improving the experience when accessing these products.

Why is this so important? Because the highest quality music files that are transmitted over the internet have a lot of data, which makes them heavy files that demand high-capacity networks, which only fiber optic can guarantee in terms of bandwidth, low latency and stability. All of this is critical to the user experience.

Fiber optic connections offer speeds that generally start at 300Mbps and may even exceed 1Gbps. Given the growth in users of these platforms, it will be increasingly necessary to use connections with fiber optics to maintain a high standard.

In fact, according to Midia Research,[2] the number of users on music streaming platforms increased by 109.5 million in 2021, compared to the previous year.

The impact and success of streaming on different online music devices and downloads show that the digital music industry needs better connection technologies to function properly. The industry’s current triumph has been driven by optical quality connectivity infrastructure and its continuous improvement is linked to always preferring the best technology and connectivity that provide the best dynamism at a good cost and with excellent quality.

[1] https://www.ifpi.org/ifpi-global-music-report-global-recorded-music-revenues-grew-18-5-in-2021/

[2] https://midiaresearch.com/blog/global-music-subscriber-market-shares-q1-2021