Data Science and the Music Industry: What Social Media Has To Do With Record Sales
By Victor Hu & Liv Buli | @nextbigsound
Twenty years ago, as a music fan, you would hear a song you enjoyed on the radio, head to the record store to buy the album and wait until the band came to town to attend a concert. The music industry was based on a straightforward consumption model.
In this online day and age you can consume music on innumerable platforms, interact with artists and other fans, and discover or share your music with the click of a button. Last year alone, more than 3 billion fans played over 60 billion songs on various online music platforms.






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Twenty years ago, as a music fan, you would hear a song you enjoyed on the radio, head to the record store to buy the album and wait until the band came to town to attend a concert. The music industry was based on a straightforward consumption model.