Play It Again, Alexa

Streaming services have taken the music industry by storm. If you’re just wading in, here’s how to choose the perfect setup for your home

- Nathaniel Wice

If you love music in your life, you owe it to yourself to try one of the streaming services if you haven’t already. Sales of vinyl managed to grow last year and could soon exceed CD sales, but it’s a retro exception that proves the rule: The convenience of streaming any song from anywhere with an Internet connection—“Alexa, play Motown hits”—has largely killed sales worldwide of records, CDs, and even music downloads. Last year, threequarters of the music industry’s income in the United States came from Apple Music, Spotify, and other streaming services like Amazon Music, YouTube Music, and Pandora.