Music Goes Freemium

PHYSICAL ALBUM SALES AND DIGITAL DOWNLOADS ARE DOWN. BUT MORE PEOPLE ARE LISTENING TO MORE MUSIC THAN EVER, WHICH PRESENTS STAGGERING OPPORTUNITIES TO ARTISTS LIKE THE WEEKND WHO CONNECT WITH AN AUDIENCE.

- Zack O'Malley Greenburg

Steve Jobs would have been the logical choice to headline the launch of Apple’s eponymous streaming service, but by the time the tech giant rolled out Apple Music two years ago, he was busy putting dents into faraway universes. In his place was a pair of young musicians who walk the line between hip-hop, pop and R&B: Drake and the Weeknd. The latter stunned the crowd with the first-ever live performance of his new single “I Can’t Feel My Face,” which premiered on Apple Music and has generated more than 1.5 billion spins across all streaming platforms.

The Weeknd knows as well as anyone that streaming isn’t the future of music—it’s the present. As digital downloads and physical sales plummet, streaming is increasing overall music consumption—since their Apple appearances, Drake (No. 4 on our list at $94 million) and The Weeknd (No. 6, $92 million) have clocked a combined 17.5 billion streams —and that creates other kinds of monetization, including touring revenue.