Streaming music
Streaming music delivers audio over the internet for playback as data arrives, usually without storing a permanent copy on the listener’s device.
Audio codec: A method for encoding and decoding digital audio, often reducing its file size. Codecs compress music so it can travel efficiently over networks.
Apple Music: A subscription music streaming service developed by Apple. Its catalog, curated radio, and device integration illustrate a major service model.
RealAudio: An early audio format and software system designed for playback while data arrived over the internet. It demonstrated internet-delivered audio before modern music platforms existed.
Music industry: The businesses and institutions involved in creating, recording, distributing, and promoting music. Streaming has reorganized how this wider industry distributes recordings and earns revenue.
Compact disc: An optical disc format used to store and play digital audio recordings. Unlike a stream, a CD provides a physical copy that can be played without internet access.
Adaptive bitrate streaming: A delivery method that changes media quality in response to available network capacity. It helps music playback continue when connection speeds fluctuate.
YouTube Music: A music streaming service that combines official releases, music videos, and user-uploaded recordings. It shows how streaming catalogs can draw on video-platform music archives.
Napster: A peer-to-peer file-sharing service launched in 1999 that made digital music exchange widely visible. Its popularity exposed demand for online music access and intensified industry conflict over distribution.
Music royalties: Payments made to rights holders for specified uses of musical works and recordings. Streaming services calculate payments from plays, rights agreements, and revenue-sharing rules.
Vinyl record: An analog audio recording stored in grooves on a rotating disc. Vinyl offers physical ownership and analog playback rather than network-delivered access.