If this were true, wouldn't radio have had the same affect?
I have a hunch that it's not streaming that's really responsible, per se, but the "Shuffle" function that's been available since the CD player. I tend to have a large playlist and more often than not, I set it to shuffle the tracks. But I did essentially the same thing when I had a 60 CD changer years ago, too. I think this trend probably started there, accelerated when MP3s and ripped CDs became popular (prior to steaming services) and streaming is just the next step in that progression.
The way we consume other media is likely to part of this as well, so saying it's streaming is perhaps a bit of a stretch even if streaming makes it possible to jump more easily.
(for the record I have not read the article, though I scanned it to be sure they were talking about streaming services).
Also, "Eruption"/"Running with the Devil", too.
But they were never very popular.
Also, CD singles were collectors items, because they would often come with bonus tracks that weren't available on the album or anywhere else. Sometimes they were just live recordings, but sometimes they were fully produced studio recordings that didn't quite make the cut for the album, but were still amazing. (Nirvana's "Even In His Youth" jumps to mind, as well as The Prodigy & Tom Morello collaboration "No Man Army".) I still remember my local 2nd-hand CD shop selling a rare Nirvana CD single for $100, and as a kid wishing I could afford to buy it.