The digital era has definitely influenced the music industry in a positive and creative way. It has made the record companies not only sit back and take a real hard look at their current business models, but to consider discarding them and starting all over.
The recording process went from spending a significant amount of time and money recording in a big studio, to being able to record and distribute an album from our own bedrooms. Digital technology has changed a lot; from the way we record music to the way it is distributed.
Back in the so called “analog days”, music was typically recorded in an established industry standard. In general, musicians and engineers were using the same tools and equipment to create a particular sound. You typically needed a guitar, piano, bass, and drum set in order to compose a song. However, as Hip Hop began to emerge and become more popular, so did a new style of creating sound. Sampling and drum machines along with other computerized sounds were now the primary measures used to create a beat. Today we can still hear a full piece band; however, those bands are also now incorporating these new types of synthetic sounds into their songs.
For example, take a look at the rock band Korn, a typical rock band, composed of a singer, drummer, guitarist and bass player, who have had many hit’s in the 90’s, utilizing the typical rock band sound. Just recently, Korn, released a comeback album incorporating Electronic Dance Music (EDM) from Superstar DJ/ Producer Skrillex into their tracks. Some might wonder why a successful band would stray from their basic musical roots, however, in order to stay relevant with the times, change is necessary.
If you take a look at today’s most popular music genres, Hip Hop and Electronic Dance Music are at the top of the list. EDM is now making a huge comeback from the 90’s due to the rapid advancement of music technology.
Programs like Logic have made it simple to record from a PC and upload the file to most networking and/or music distribution sites. An independent DJ can now produce their own music out of their own bedroom using synthesizers, drum machines and a laptop computer.
If this type of technology was not available today we would not have all the available music that surrounds us today.
The significance in digital technology does not only stop with the recording of music; it also has great importance in the distribution of music. Digital Pressing and Distribution Deals are now available to all artists. As an artist you can make a distribution deal to companies like Tunecore.com and they will distribute your music to digital retailers. These types of deals are more at a modest level but beneficial to an artist who wants to get their music heard that does not have a deal from companies like BMG.
Prior to the days of iTunes, physical retail stores were your primary means to purchasing music. Typically, a song would be played on the radio, if someone liked that song enough, they would have to make time to go out and purchase that song at the store. However, now days, with the development of the internet and online music, an individual can purchase a song within seconds while still wearing their pajamas.
In addition to record purchasing speed, technology has also made it easier to cater to the specific needs of the consumer. Digital distribution has opened up new sale strategies that were not available in the past.
Purchasing individual songs of an album was not always an option unless it was the official single put out by the record label. Providing the consumers the ability to purchase single songs rather than entire CDs is beneficial to the industry.
After doing some research on iTunes I found that Chris Brown’s new album “Fortune” released three singles before he released his actual album. There is no doubt in my mind that Brown fans purchased these three singles in order to have his latest material. Chris Brown has just released his new album along with the three previously released singles that his fans have already purchased. When it’s time for his fans to buy the entire album iTunes will give them two options. The first option is to buy the complete album at $9.99 or a second option to buy each song at an individual price of $1.29. The consumer is faced with a dilemma, due to the fact that they already have 3 out of the 14 songs. After doing the math if the consumer buys the 11 songs individually in order to prevent their library from having duplicate songs it will end up costing them $14.19. The best option is obviously option one it is more economical for the consumer to just buy the entire album. The business strategy here in my opinion is that it allows for additional royalties to be paid out.
According to IFPI.org an on-line music statistic firm, global revenues to record companies grew by an estimated 8% to $5.2 billion in 2011. This is a much faster rate than in 2010. According to IFPI estimates “With strong consumer demand for both single track downloads (up 11 per cent by volume), digital albums (up 24 per cent by volume) and fast-expanding subscription services. The number of users paying to subscribe to a music service leapt by 65 per cent in 2011 to 13.4 million worldwide.”
In my opinion there was a small period of time when the record companies where being affected by the new technology. Based on the IFI statement, it looks like things are back on track. Overall in the long run, digital technology has benefited the music business by providing more options to innovate business strategies and reach a broader audience of consumers.
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