How is the music industry changing?
The music industry is deemed to be ‘ less easily controlled’ Stafford. This is due to various reasons, but the main contribution to how the music industry has changed into becoming ‘ less easily controllable’ is due to technology advances over the last few years, and these advances have caused major advantages and disadvantages toward the music industry in very recent times.
The use of convergence and vertical integration within media and music related products impact heavily on how the music industry progresses and changes. Convergence is a key term when considering how the music industry has developed, for example mobile phones now can turn into music devices, mp3’s in which you are able to listen to music on your phone. This is a development in technology and it gives you an idea of how wide spread the music industry is becoming as it is converging with other products and therefore tapping into almost everything, making it available everywhere. So the music industry has begun to change due to factors such as products merging together to make music devices.
Another example of how the music industry is developing and changing is this idea of vertical integration in which you have a company such as Apple and Apple alongside Steve Jobs had the idea that created the revolutionary music mp3 ‘ Ipod.’ The genius behind this invention means that you have to have follow up programmes on your computer, for example to have the Ipod you need software such as ‘Itunes’ which you can up load your music onto and then transfer it to the Ipod software, this then leads onto where you consume your music from therefore leading on to having the ‘Itunes store’ which you can locate and buy whatever music tracks you like and put them onto your portable device. This is an example of how the music industry is rapidly changing as technology advancements like this makes music a fashionable thing, you see people with the Ipod and you want it. It makes the music industy a more broadcast and widespread thing than it ever has been before, it lets you listen to music all the time. It is a fact that music is something valued in a persons everyday life, Marocesh records stated that 60 % of 16-34 year olds would rather go without sex than music for a week’ this suggeststhat the transformation of technology has made music something that people cant seem to live, without, as people nowadays thanks to mp3’s have it with them constantly, and this technology is still advancing.
Prosumer technology is allowing people, who may not even be skilled in any factor that involves producing a form of entertainment musically, allow people to enter this field themselves without any previous training or musical talent. Examples of this prosumer technology involves Mac programmes such as garage band and I movie. These advances in technology are allowing the music industry to change rapidly as people who five to ten years ago wouldn’t have the ability or chance to produce there own music and then channel and advertise it via web 2, have the ability to do so now. They’re fore making the industry more accessible than ever before.
Apple also changed the concept of niche audiences from being a bad thing to a good thing. Therefore now changing the mainstream audience to being that of live performances rather than electronic. Alex Martin suggested that ‘ More money is made from live music that physical feels.’ (Rowland magazine, April 09) and if this is actually the case, it means that the music industry is changing in a way that people don’t actually tend to buy there music much anymore, therefore more money is being made from other formats such as gigging and major festivals. Therefore this also changes the market for what music is popular as well,
There has been much debate on the consumption of music itself, and many a lawsuit considering the issue of illegal downloads such as Napster and the lawsuit against Kevin Napster for the distribution of free music. This has caused major havoc in the industry and how the big 4 record labels receive the money and also how the artists make there money. So the music is changing in a way that as Stafford said ‘is less easily controlled.’ On the other hand recent reports and works of certain artists have shown that if you work with the technology advances such as web 2 and file sharing resources, you can actually still promote your work and make money. For example, ok go, using a simple idea within the video ‘here it goes again’ using a dance routine involving running machines, which would of cost little money, managed to sell there record and in doing so there video on you tube became one of the most viewed videos of all time. You also have bands such as Enter Shikari. Edith Blackman stated ‘ they put out their record they and toured it’ and in doing so have become a major success. This tells us that the music industry is changing in a way in which now you can use web 2, through marketing things on face book, my space and you tube to your advantage, when a few years ago this was seen as a major disadvantage to the whole of the music industry, but now music industry involvers are finding ways to overcome this major issue, and in doing so becoming very successful and making there money back. Also if you put the work into doing live shows your self you are also making money, and all of this is possible without the help of the big 4 record labels, and this a few years ago would have been an unheard of thing.
Rebecca Scanlon.
