History of Online Streaming Timeline

In 2006, Swedish businessmen Daniel Ek and Martin Lorentzon founded Spotify, aiming to create a legal alternative to file sharing platforms such as Napster and Kazaa.

Image source: Spotify

After reaching agreements with SACEM, Blogmusiq relaunched as Deezer, which reached seven million users by the end of 2009.

Spotify first launched in 2008, allowing users to stream songs on-demand using peer-to-peer technology, offered in both subscription-based and ad-supported tiers.

Beats Electronics was acquired by Apple Inc., which discontinued Beats Music in 2015 and replaced it with a new Apple Music service.

Image source: Apple Music

Tidal launched in 2015 with backing from rapper Jay-Z, emphasizing high-fidelity audio and exclusive releases as differentiators from other streaming services.

Image source: Tidal (service)

In October 2015, after initially offering "Music Key", Google launched YouTube Red, extending ad-free access to all videos on the platform and adding premium original content to compete with services such as Netflix.

In 2016, Rhapsody was renamed Napster; Rhapsody had acquired the Napster brand in 2011, uniting two pioneering names in music streaming under one service.

In 2017, Pandora launched a "Premium" tier featuring an on-demand service more in line with its competitors, while still leveraging its existing recommendation engine and manual curation.

In October 2017, Microsoft announced the discontinuation of Groove Music Pass, directing its users to Spotify as it exited the music streaming business.

Image source: Groove Music

In 2018, YouTube Red rebranded as YouTube Premium, and YouTube concurrently introduced a redesigned YouTube Music platform along with a separate YouTube Music subscription at a lower price point.

In 2019, Beatport, an online music store targeting DJs and electronic music, announced Beatport Cloud and Beatport Link streaming services, designed to integrate with DJ software such as Serato, Rekordbox, and Traktor.

Image source: Beatport

The YouTube Music service replaced Google Play Music entirely in 2020, after which Google no longer operated a digital music store.

Image source: YouTube Music

In 2012, Psy's K-pop song "Gangnam Style" became a major international hit driven by the viral popularity of its music video, becoming the first YouTube video to reach one billion views.

Image source: Gangnam Style

By 2013, on-demand music streaming had begun to displace online music stores as the main revenue stream of digital music, marking a major shift in how consumers access music.

Image source: Music streaming service

In 2013, Spotify stated that it paid artists an average of $0.007 per stream, offering insight into the economics of streaming royalties for musicians.

During the 2010s, streaming services saw significant growth, overtaking online music stores as the largest source of revenue to the United States music industry in 2015, and accounting for a majority since 2016.

In 2016, Kanye West received attention for making multiple revisions to his album The Life of Pablo on streaming services following its initial release, including mastering tweaks and later a new song, compared by Pitchfork's Jayson Greene to software updates.

Image source: The Life of Pablo

In 2019, streaming services accounted for the majority of music revenue globally for the first time, cementing streaming as the dominant model of the music industry worldwide.

In 2021, the music industry saw its largest increase in revenue in 20 years, with paid music streaming accounting for $12.3 billion ($2.2 billion year-over-year) and ad-supported streaming $4.6 billion ($1.1 billion year-over-year).

In 2023, the IFPI reported that music industry revenue had increased by 11.2% compared to the previous year, with an estimated 667 million users of paid streaming services and revenue more than doubled since 2017.

Image source: International Federation of the Phonographic Industry

Amidst hundreds of millions of daily streams, Spotify confirmed that tracks would be required to get a minimum of 1,000 listens every year to receive royalties starting early 2024, aiming to reduce gaming of the payout system.

Charli XCX's Brat album cover was updated with a rusted, scratched-out look in May 2025, then changed to read "forever <3" in June to mark its first anniversary, showcasing streaming-era album art updates.

Image source: Brat (album)

In March 2012, Billboard launched a new "On-Demand Songs" chart, which was added to the formula of its flagship Hot 100 chart.

Image source: Billboard charts

In January 2013, Billboard's On-Demand Songs chart was broadened into "Streaming Songs", and YouTube views in the United States were added to the Hot 100 formula the following month.

Image source: List of Spotify streaming records

"Harlem Shake"—a song by trap producer Baauer associated with a viral dance meme—was boosted to number-one on the Billboard Hot 100 in February 2013 after U.S. streaming data was incorporated into the chart.

Image source: Harlem Shake (song)

In 2014, the UK singles chart changed its methodology to include streaming, reflecting the growing importance of streams in measuring song popularity.

Image source: UK singles chart

In 2016, the GfK Entertainment charts in Germany added revenues generated from a song's availability on paid streaming platforms to its methodology, excluding free ad-supported services.

Image source: GfK Entertainment charts

On December 16, 2025, Billboard announced that beginning in 2026, its methodology would weigh streams from subscription-based service users more heavily (approximately two-and-a-half to one) than those from free, ad-supported services, to better reflect streaming revenue and consumer behavior.

Image source: Billboard Hot 100