The Effects of the Internet, Technology and Social Media has had on the Music Industry
As social networking and technology evolve, more people are online adding more challenges for the music industry. Has social networking become a problem for the music industry?
It can be hard for the recording industry to make money because so much of the music is readily available online free of charge. However, this doesn’t put the record label out of business; readjustments and strategic planning with marketing must be made in order to make money and become of value to the artists and the industry as a whole.
Bands and Artists are finding new ways to stay relevant and to make money. They seem to be doing just fine because they are keeping up with technology and social media, which is valuable tool and much more affordable, especially for new artists. Social media had made it possible to create, promote and sell in the comfort of your home.
As I watch Tour Manager, Andre Washington setup, he says “Artist’s still make a major part of their money touring and states that technology will never replace the love of music and the human connection artist’s makes with their fans during live performances”.
Photo compliments of Andre Washington (C) 2013
Today, online skills should automatically become a part of every artist requirements for the industry. It allows artists to become closer to their art because they’re not tied to what the record labels would normally do to create a product. Just as YouTube has made people famous without a label, success is still at your reach while simply working in the comfort of your own home.
(c) 2013 Photo by D. Garvin
According to Wade Jones, CEO/Co-Founder of Peach City Records, he stated that being a newly formed label, social media help to make the journey exciting. “To have the opportunity to get my artists exposed to a wider audience on a very low budget would not have been possible just a few years ago.”
Digitization of content has become inevitable in this age of technology. From the creation of music to the consumption of music, it all demonstrates how it has become digitized. Take IPOD’s, smart phones and tablets for example, and even apps created for these devices, they’re all the creation of digital technology.
(c) 2013 Photo by D. Garvin
According to Pandodaily, “popular digital music services have been criticized for not paying enough in royalties to the rights holders. It escalated into a debate with Congress in the form of the Internet Radio Fairness Act, a bill that aims to change the way royalty rates are set.”
Because the labels and digital music are helping each other today, digital music sales have gone up drastically. Services like Song Kick and bands in town are platforms that bring people to shows, which is how most artists make their revenues. Technology has definitely shifted the control of the record label to the control of the artists.
Social media had made it possible to bring all sides together, and allow more freedom for artist’s creativity. But, don’t get it twisted, record labels are still needed and used today because someone has to do all the legwork. In the end it’s a lot of work, and the coming together of the old and the new as a team can be very profitable.
