Streaming overtakes US digital music sales for first time

Rap king: Drake had the most digital song sales, the most streams

NEW YORK: Canadian rapper Drake helped music streaming services explode in 2016, rising by 76% in the United States to overtake digital sales of music for the first time in history, Nielsen Music said.

Americans used on demand streaming platforms, such as Apple Music, Google Play, Spotify, Pandora and Amazon Music, to listen to 431 billion songs in 2016, led by hip hop and R&B artists like Drake, The Weeknd, Kanye West and Rihanna, Nielsen said in its 2016 US year-end report.