Radio is the most stable part of the music industry, but that's not a high bar to clear

Streaming is the sexiest way to listen to music in 2015. It's also the most controversial, because artists are constantly pulling their music from various platforms or speaking out against it. But the practice is constantly evolving, because the laws around music rights are complicated and competition between services is tight. Many within the music industry believe streaming is the future. It's the fastest-growing sector, and one of the few formats with a young user base. But even though streaming appears to have a long life ahead of it, it has a long way to go if it's ever going to unseat the current standard, radio.

Meanwhile, 39 percent of Americans listen to online radio, and 23.9 percent listen to satellite radio. These stats measure the listening public of America so obviously there is some overlap among them. Radio is still the biggest player in the music industry. It still calls the shots, and it's still by far the best place for artists to break out. But whether or not radio is a sustainable industry as iHeart's ad revenue drifts downward and streaming companies build out more robust advertising departments, is yet to be seen. Radio may be more stable than any other part of the music industry, but that, as it turns out, isn't a very high bar to clear.