The landscape of music is steadily changing whether big record companies want to realize it or not. We are beginning to see the digital age grow legs at a rapid pace.Here is more from one of the largest music companies in the world:

“Universal Music Group, home to Lady Gaga and U2, on Tuesday reported that revenue for the last nine months had risen 2.1 percent over the last year.

Sales from CDs dipped again by 14.2 percent to €1.02 billion ($1.29 billion) while digital grew another 8.6 percent to €916 million ($1.16 billion) — poised to overtake physical sales soon.

UMG is not the first label to reach this tipping point. Warner Music Group has seen the same pattern as digital music sales grow and CD sales shrink ever more.

In truth, however, Universal is breathing fumes on the way to the milestone. Which is to say, revenue is only up 2.1 percent thanks to currency fluctuations. Had currencies remained constant, company sales would have dipped by 3.4 percent.

The other story is that, regardless of format, recorded music revenue continues to shrink because digital downloads are cheaper than discs. The growth is being picked up by licensing to other services.”

Props to Hypebot & AlLindstrom