Nielsen Q1 Numbers: Quote from Music Biz President James Donio

Music Biz President James Donio released the following quote regarding the recent Nielsen 2017 Q1 numbers published in Billboard:

“Nielsen’s Q1 2017 music numbers indicate that the overall upward momentum generated last year is continuing. Music consumption was up 5.9% from Q1 2016, with 145.5 million total album equivalent units. That number was fueled once more by massive growth in the streaming sector, with total on-demand streams up 35.2% over Q1 2016 to 133.9 billion. Of those, 86.1 billion were audio on-demand streams (up 67% over Q1 2016), 47.8 billion were video on-demand streams (up only 1% due to a change in YouTube reporting), and 3.1 billion were programmed streams (up 49%, though the numbers don’t include Pandora). Altogether, it was more than enough to offset ongoing declines in physical products, which is quite encouraging as we look toward the rest of the year.”