Research - The state of the music industry 2012

The music industry has changed and developed as technology has evolved. There has been several changes in production, distribution and exchange.

Guardian Article:


'Music is thriving, but the business is dying. Who can make it pay again?' by Dan Sabbagh.


In this article in the Guardian, the highlighted the following facts:

• There is a loss of sales
• Diverse and new strategies are being used to make money

Production:

Then - Music could only be recorded in recording studio, making the method simplistic.

Now - People can make their own music on their own software and computers. Some even have a recording studio in their homes, so there is more of a sense of personal space. There is less use of physical media which shows the shift to the digital realm. Artists such as Daniel Bedingfield made music in his bedroom and became a successful artist.

Distribution:

Then - Music was advertised mainly through the word of mouth and through small gigs at venues.

Now - You can't get away from advertising! Music is promoted online, through tv/youtube adverts, billboards, posters, concerts, radio and through social networking.

Exchange:

Then - Vinyl records are no longer considered popular so they have to try harder and think of new strategies to sell and make money (e.g. souljazz records).

Now - Music is available free online though sites including youtube converters, which makes it harder for singles to sell. There is still not enough profit from physical sales. Most sales are done online through the iTunes store.

Strategies for more sales:


The way people download and view music now benefits the record companies/musicians as it brings artist awareness and generates revenues through things like Youtube, paid adverts and the promotion of sales of the artist whether its downloading songs or purchasing CDs. New strategies aim to provide the same sort of awareness.


Spotify: This is a new free software where music can be downloaded for free as long as it is played through Spotify. It allows you to create playlists and recommend friends to listen to music. The only thing is that for every couple of songs that are played, adverts are played often. However if you pay monthly, there will be no adverts, which is a good way of getting people to pay money to get rid of this annoyance. Spotify cannot be played on your phone unless you pay for the app monthly, so paying is the only way of getting music on the go.

Viral videos: Viral videos get everyone reposting and tweeting them. It gives the viewer a sense of the novelty factor and helps promote the artist/band, so they shift from unknown to well known and popular.

OK GO -

OK GO are mostly known for their popular music video featuring treadmills. Their innovative choreography earned them a lot of views on Youtube and therefore went viral. Their idea was original and simplistic, and shows that a music video does not need a big budget to score many viewers. 

OK GO continue to produce genius and creative music videos, and this is another example. Timing seems to be the key element to this video and all the timing needs to be perfected in one shot and it makes the viewer wonder how they managed to succeed this. They create a buzz and foreshadow their visual influence for their concerts.

Film music videos:

Michael Jackson -

This iconic Michael Jackson video was one of the first film music videos. To this day it has a massive influence and has inspired other artists to start film making.

Kanye West -

Kanye West tried film making in this video, collaborating most of his new hits into one video, that of which is the longest music video ever made (34 mins).

Lady Gaga -

This mini film by Lady Gaga attracted lots of viewers and she created a modern twist in making a film music video. Of course it included phones, and there was an advertisement promoting virgin media which can be recognised. It also included a 'Cooking Mama' parody (nintendo game) in the cooking scene which provided humour. Although, some of the attention comes from the explicit nature, including anti-social behaviour and mass poisoning. This controversy attracted 121 million views.

DID YOU KNOW: Britney spears was offered this duet with Lady Gaga, but she turned it down and was therefore accepted by Beyonce. Gaga returned the favour by featuring in Beyonce's 'Video Phone'.