Music streaming hits 70% of market in pioneering Sweden

Music streaming companies now account for 70 percent of all music bought in Sweden, home of Spotify, the world leader in the field, official industry figures revealed on Sunday. The Swedish Recording Industry Association (GLF) said physical sales of music now stood at just 25 percent, confirming the march of digital music in the pioneering country. The remaining five percent of consumers downloaded music to own on a hard drive. GLF said the percentage of streamed music, where songs are downloaded but not kept permanently on computers, had risen from 57 percent in 2012. Sales of music overall grew by 12 percent in the first half of this year and have been increasing steadily since 2008, while not reaching the heights seen at the beginning of the last decade. "The strong growth seen in 2012 continued in 2013, and the Swedish consumer's preference for streaming is clearer than ever," said Ludvig Werner, director in Sweden of the International Federation of the Phonographic Industry.