Changes in technology have introduced yet
a third recorded music business model: cloud streaming. Here, you own the music and you can
store it on a single online cloud drive and play
it from any device you choose—one music collection,
no coordination issues, and local storage
for offline playback. The technology behind this
business model is cloud computing, a model of
computing where software and files are stored
on servers located on the Internet rather than
on local devices like PCs and local servers in an
office or corporate headquarters. While cloud
computing started out as a new and less-expensive
method of information processing for large
corporations, it is spreading to consumer services
such as music, file storage, productivity software,
and calendars. What makes cloud computing possible
is mammoth data centers stocked with hundreds
of thousands of computer processors, and
cheap broadband networks that can move files and
software instructions rapidly back and forth from
local devices to cloud servers.