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BUSINESS ENGLISH · BUSINESS ISSUES · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

THE FUTURE
OF
STREAMING
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1 Warm up

What is video/music streaming? Have you ever used a streaming service like Spotify?

2 Key vocabulary

Match the words on the left to their definitions on the right.

1. a household a. a data transmission system used for high-speed internet access

2. ownership b. a percentage of the revenue from the sale of a book, music CD,
etc. paid to the creator or author
3. broadband c. a person or group of people who occupy one place of living

4. royalty d. hurrying to do something

5. a rush e. the state of possessing something

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THE FUTURE OF STREAMING

3 Find the information

You are going to read an article about the future of the streaming business. Find the information
below.

1. How much money does Spotify want to raise?

2. How much is the business worth?
3. How much did Amazon invest in its video streaming service in 2014?
4. How many paid subscribers does Spotify have?
5. How many households in the UK own a TV?
6. How many households in the UK owned a TV in 2014?
7. How many households in the UK own a tablet?
8. How many households in the UK owned a tablet in 2014?
9. How much is the average royalty paid by Spotify to artists?
10. How much did Spotify lose in 2014?

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INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)
THE FUTURE OF STREAMING
The future of streaming
Adapted from The Independent, by Doug Bolton, 14 June 2015
1.
When was the last time you bought a CD? Or a DVD?
If you are under 30 years old, it was probably a long
time ago. For a new generation of music listeners, TV
and film viewers, streaming services such as Spotify
and Netflix have replaced trips to the music shop or
even downloads from iTunes. Streaming is becoming
popular just like satellite TV did 20 years ago. And
investors are paying attention.
2.
According to reports, Spotify has hired the
investment company Goldman Sachs to raise $500m
(£330m) in fresh funding. They value the business at
$8bn. According to the Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos,
Amazon invested $1.3bn in 2014 in its streaming
service Prime Instant Video.
3.
Streamers are ready to fight for our attention —
and our cash. "The main reason why the money
is going to streaming is because consumers want
it," says Ian Maude, who studies online media for
Enders Analysis. "The growth rate for Spotify now is
just unbelievable. They announced 12.5 million paid
subscribers at the end of November and now they’ve
got 15 million."
4.
Mr Maude says that the situation is similar to other
streaming services such as Netflix, Prime Instant
Video and NowTV. "In the UK, the number of
households that own a TV dropped from 98 per
cent to 96 per cent in just the last year," says Maria
Ingold, who runs the video-on-demand consultancy
Mireality. "Tablet ownership is up from 29 per cent to
46 per cent. For kids especially, their TV experience
is on a tablet."
5.
Technology is the reason for the rise of streaming.
More portable devices and faster internet mean that
it is a viable option. Ms Ingold was the chief
technology officer of the video-on-demand business
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FilmFlex and points out: "We started 18 years ago
doing video on demand. But when cheaper and faster
broadband arrived, a lot of things have changed."
6.
For the artists whose "content" supports streaming
services, the transition to this new distribution model
has been difficult in some cases .
7.
In film and television, streaming has brought new
income. But for the music industry, the rise
of platforms such as Spotify, Rdio and Deezer
has resulted in even smaller earnings for artists.
Musicians complained of the $0.99 per track price
on iTunes, but that now seems a lot compared to the
average $0.007 per stream royalty which Spotify pay
to artists.
8.
But for the music streaming services, it is also
difficult to make much money. Spotify, which is the
sector leader, made a loss of ◆57.8m (£43.5m) last
year. Oleg Fomenko, who ran the music streaming
application Bloom.fm, believes this is a trivial detail
because Spotify is focusing on growth rather than
profit. "The last man standing will make money," he
says. "Right now it’s just a rush for that scale."
9.
Bloom.fm was one of the many Spotify competitors
which lost the race for scale. It went out of
business after its Russian investor decided to stop
funding it last year. "Blinkbox and Sony’s Music
Unlimited closing down shows that unless you have
deep pockets, it is extremely difficult," says Mr
Maude. "Investors are ready to give up very quickly
if something isn’t working."
10.
Despite questions over profitability and industry
taxes, the sector shows no signs of slowing. Investors
seem very ready to invest money in streaming and the
appetite among consumers has not been satisfied yet.
3/6
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THE FUTURE OF STREAMING

4 Checking understanding

What do you remember? Put T (True) or F (False) next to each of the statements below.

1. Streaming has become more popular than buying CDs.

2. Business people are investing in streaming because they think people will want it in the future.
3. Kids prefer to watch TV on a television.
4. Streaming has become popular because of technological developments.
5. Musicians earn a lot of money with streaming.
6. Streaming services are very profitable at the moment.
7. Streaming services need a lot of funding to be successful.
8. The streaming business has not slowed down yet.

5 Find the word/phrase ...

Find a word or phrase in the text which means ...

1. noticing (phrase, P1)

2. capable of working successfully, feasible (adjective, P5)
3. a change from one thing to another (noun, P6)
4. one of several songs or pieces of music on a CD or other musical recording (noun, P7)

5. unimportant (adjective, P8)

6. a lot of financial resources (phrase, P9)
7. demand (noun, P10)

6 Collocations

Match the verbs on the left to the words on the right to form phrases from the text.

1. raise a. a business

2. value b. a loss

3. bring c. funding

4. go d. growth

5. make e. new income

6. focus on f. out of business

Now make your own sentences with these phrases.

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7 Grammar - Relative clauses

A relative clause is a part of a sentence that begins with which, who, that, where, when or whose.
They give more information about something. There are two types of relative clause. Study the table
below and the examples from the text.

Type 1 - Necessary information Type 2 - Extra information

Bloom.fm was one of the many Spotify Oleg Fomenko, who ran the
competitors which lost the race for scale. music streaming application
Bloom.fm, believes this is a
In the UK, the number of households that own
trivial detail.
a TV dropped from 98 per cent to 96 per cent in
Spotify, which is the sector
just the last year.
leader, made a loss of ◆57.8m
(£43.5m) last year.

Important points
• Type 1 relative clauses give necessary information. Without this information, we do not know
which person or thing somebody is talking about. For example, that own a TV ... tells us which
households the writer is talking about. Without this information, it is not clear.
• When who/that/which ... is the object of the verb, we can leave it out:
They didn’t have the brand that I wanted to buy. They didn’t have the brand I wanted to buy.
In the above sentence, that (= the brand) is the object of the verb buy. But if who/that/which is
the subject of the verb, we cannot leave it out:
I know a woman who works for KP Lewis. (NOT: I know a woman works for KP Lewis.)
• Type 2 relative clauses give extra information. Without this information, we still know which
person or thing somebody is talking about. For example, ..., who ran the music streaming application
Bloom.fm, is extra information about Oleg Fomenko. Without this information, it is still clear which
person the writer is talking about.
• Type 2 relative clauses must be separated from the rest of the sentence with a comma (,).
• We cannot use that in Type 2 relative clauses:
This coffee, that which Joanne bought for me yesterday, tastes really good.
• We cannot leave out who/which/where in Type 2 relative clauses:
This coffee, which Joanne bought for me yesterday, tastes really good.
(NOT: This coffee, Joanne bought for me yesterday, tastes really good.)
Find an example of a Type 1 relative clause in paragraphs 6 and 7 of the article.
....................................................................................................
....................................................................................................
Find an example of a Type 2 relative clause in paragraph 3 of the article.
....................................................................................................

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8 Practice - Type 1 relative clauses

Create a sentence from the parts. In which sentences can you omit the word who, which, where, why,
etc.?

1. who lent me / is here. / The guy / his laptop

2. the pen / I borrowed / That’s / which / from you.
3. the company / that / as a junior software developer. / This is / I worked for
4. the day / That was / I / first met the boss. / when
5. I didn’t come / was because / The reason / I had an important meeting. / why
6. a businessman / Steve Jobs / died in 2011. / was / who
7. That’s / for. / the guy / company / whose / I work
8. Did you / the invoice / I sent / that / I / you? / get
9. where / room service. / She has never stayed / a hotel / at / you can order
10. I’ve ever met. / the most talented / man / He’s / that

9 Practice - Type 2 relative clauses

Make sentences using the extra information below.

who works in my office when she lived in Japan where I have an account
which is a very slow sport which is a waste of money which is a well-paid job
which is the capital of Iran which is very difficult to learn who was president of South Africa

1. Mr Johnson is a very supportive colleague.

Mr Johnson, who works in my office, is a very supportive colleague.
2. She comes from Tehran. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
3. Derek is a lawyer. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
4. She worked for Toyota in 2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
5. The camera costs over 1000 dollars. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
6. He often plays cricket. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
7. She speaks fluent Chinese. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
8. Nelson Mandela died in 2013. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
9. Barclays Bank is one of the world’s biggest banks.
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

10 Talking point
Discuss any of the questions below.

1. Do you think streaming will become more popular in the future?

2. Do you think there will be one big streaming company in the end?
3. Do you think streaming is good or bad for the music industry?

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TEACHER MATERIALS · INTERMEDIATE (B1-B2)

THE FUTURE OF STREAMING

Key

1. Warm up

Encourage a short discussion. Definition of streaming: playing continuously while data is being sent to a computer
over the Internet

2. Key vocabulary

Students can work individually using a dictionary and check in pairs. Alternatively, create your own sample
sentences or examples.

1. c 2. e 3. a 4. b 5. d

3. Find the information

Students read the text individually and check answers in pairs. Be prepared to answer any vocabulary questions.

1. $500m 2. $8bn
3. $1.3bn 4. 15 million
5. 96 per cent 6. 98 per cent
7. 46 per cent 8. 29 per cent
9. $0.007 per stream 10. ◆57.8m

4. Checking understanding

Students check answers in pairs. Be prepared to answer any vocabulary questions. Go through the answers.

1. T 2. F - People want it now.

3. F - Their TV experience is on a tablet. 4. T
5. F - The average royalty per stream is $0.007 6. F - It is difficult for them to make much money.
7. T 8. T

5. Find the word/phrase ...

In a classroom, students can work individually and check in pairs. Go through the answers with the class.

1. paying attention 2. viable 3. transition 4. track

5. trivial 6. deep pockets 7. appetite

6. Collocations

1. c 2. a 3. e 4. f 5. b 6. d

7. Grammar - Relative clauses

Go through the table and explain the rules. In paragraph 6: ‘For the artists whose "content" supports streaming
services, ...’. In paragraph 7: ... per stream royalty which Spotify pay to artists. In paragraph 3: ‘says Ian Maude,
who studies online media for Enders Analysis.’

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8. Practice - Type 1 relative clauses

Students can work individually and check in pairs.

1. The guy who lent me his laptop is here.

2. That’s the pen which I borrowed from you.
3. This is the company that I worked for as a junior software developer.
4. That was the day when I first met the boss.
5. The reason why I didn’t come was because I had an important meeting.
6. Steve Jobs was a businessman who died in 2011.
7. That’s the guy whose company I work for.
8. Did you get the invoice that I sent you?
9. She has never stayed at a hotel where you can order room service.
10. He’s the most talented man that I’ve ever met.
Sentences 2,3,4,5,8 and 10 can be reduced.

9. Practice - Type 2 relative clauses

2. She comes from Tehran, which is the capital of Iran.

3. Derek is a lawyer, which is a well-paid job.
4. She worked for Toyota in 2007, when she lived in Japan.
5. The camera costs over 1000 dollars, which is a waste of money.
6. He often plays cricket, which is a very slow sport.
7. She speaks fluent Chinese, which is very difficult to learn.
8. Nelson Mandela, who was president of South Africa, died in 2013.
9. Barclays Bank, where I have an account, is one of the world’s biggest banks.

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