Technology has had a significant impact on the music business throughout the years. The ways of the music industry have changed a lot in the last two decades due to fast innovation in digital technology. A couple of examples are the coming in of digital recording software programs and internet-based streaming services. Nowadays, almost every music band has its Spotify account and the use of Spotify growth services, that help in promotion, is growing day by day.
Things are still changing, and the music industry is finding it difficult to keep up. With fast Internet and easy file sharing over the Internet, music is easily available to the general public people hurting the revenues of the record labels and the artists. Also, because there was no way to monitor music duplication, pirated music became a concern for music companies. Despite these negatives, there are many positive effects of technology too on the music industry. In this blog, we will discuss more aspects of how the internet is changing the music industry.
Promoting artists: The Internet (Social Media and various apps) is also a fantastic tool for independent musicians to reach a worldwide audience without the aid and support of a large label. So many budding musicians today document their music journey and content creation online to their followers, in fact, you can create a loyal following before you have even released a single. Nowadays would-be artists film themselves jamming on their best loop pedal, practicing lyrics, and creating their new track all of which can be shown, for free, via channels such as YouTube. This kind of self promotion has given artists a foot in the door like never before. They just need the internet, their musical instruments, and a camera or a smartphone.
Online music streaming: Hard copies of music i.e. CDs are no longer in demand with the arrival of the digital mp3 and FLAC formats. This paradigm change did not occur suddenly, but it has accelerated in recent years. Take Spotify, for example: in 2016, the company had 30 million paying customers worldwide, but by 2019, that number had more than quadrupled to 100 million. Apple Music, which debuted in 2015 and currently boasts 60 million paying members worldwide, tread a similar path.
Apple Music’s growth signals a shift in customer expectations for music to be available whenever and wherever they want it. The big streaming platforms have done an excellent job of providing customized, curated, and branded playlists to their subscribers.
New ways to reach out: Technology has altered not just the way we live and connect with others, but also the way artists promote music and music lovers listen to it. Music fans have more options than before when it comes to exploring their interest, thanks to technological advancements and the rise of social media. Taking advice from experts like Eric Dalius will help you enhance your social media promotion success and gain more traction than ever. There are many small boutique labels and artist-owned companies with their unique music who have established themselves.
So, the music business has been dramatically transformed by the internet. Through social media platforms, musicians have gained more control over the distribution and promotion of their music. Many artists are now going their own way, ignoring the industry norms. This way, they have better control over their creations and thus maintain their IP rights.
Conclusion
In this digital age, music lovers now have access to a lot of music they wouldn’t have otherwise. Many forward-thinking musicians are using the Internet to carve their own space and earn well without the record companies. While the Internet has significantly impacted the music business in recent years, there are both positives and negatives. However, since the Internet isn’t going anywhere anytime soon, the music industry must focus on its benefits rather than consider it an adversary.
