Going to the local music shop was an adventure for music enthusiasts. Going and shopping for your favorite musical artists latest release. These days, the world has changed. Years ago, popping the trunk of your car and pulling out physical CD’s was the avenue where majority of artists distributed their music. Introducing the digital age. These days there are countless examples on how little known artists and subpar major artists have developed enormous popularity and royalties, because of the streaming capabilities of the digital age. Most notably are artists like J. Cole and Kendrick Lamar who without any huge budget for marketing and promotion have each managed to have 600,000 in first week album sales. The digital marketplace has transformed the way that consumers view shopping for music and the way it is played. Streaming has become extremely popular and necessary to gauge an artist’s preparedness in the independent and major industries. These days 1st week album sales are being divided and categorized, as how many are “true album sales” and how many of those sales are digital or streaming sales. This is a different dynamic compared to the early 1990’s when the album sales were all physical sales. Artists must adjust their marketing and promotion to target the digital consumer and not necessarily the retail demographic that are loyal fans. Popularity has truly overtaken talent in today’s musical digital marketplace.