Article 4: Music and The Recording Industry
clashes between established media and digital media
the recording industry has been at the forefront of these issue, voicing its concerns
sound quality
tidal produces great sound quality that provides range not available on other services is it worth the cost?
fidelity
traded for portability, convenience, and low cost
mobile devices
used for streaming
jukeboxes
used in bars and clubs in 1930s records were sold for use in juke joints
high quality stereo systems
used to be a big deal but now are not as important
acquistino to access
we are moving from an acquisition model (having CDs or files on your computer) to an access model (use of these streaming services)
mistake in CDs
when CDs were introduced, they eliminated the single and forced people to buy an entire CD for only a few songs that they wanted built up customer animosity
repurchasing album collections
when companies embraced CDs, customers bought their album collections in a new format
sale decline
CD sales have continued to have double-digit percentage drops each year decrease in physical units, but increase in digital units
compact disk
the CD was the first conveyor of digitally recorded songs developed in 1980
freemium
a company gives a core product away for free to a large group of users and also sells premium products to a smaller fraction of this user base
music should be free
a major problem for the recording industry was that a generation had been raised with the idea that music should be free
online distribution
allowing for a much greater variety of music to reach the public that would not have been supported by the traditional marketing system
limited FM radio
became more profit oriented and cautious which caused shorter and narrower playlists and a heavy rotation of hits new artists and genres could not get exposure as easily as before
music
became the dominant element of recording industry because it is based on popular music the phonograph record became the primary content of radio which provided free exposure of the recording industry's product to a huge, affluent young audience of potential buyers
rejection of mainstream culture
best embodied in new genres of rock music which became very popular
calling the tune
big recording companies used to control what artists would record but now technology has given many artists more power and freedom
apple
biggest music retailer in the country
streaming services
caused a decrease in digital downloads concern that free or cheap streaming services might be cannibalizing CD and download sales
hi-def downloads
cell phones and tablets can not handle hi-def downloads but there are portable music players that have good digital-to-analouge converters that provide quality music today
vinyl long-play (LP) album
contained 45 minutes of music was create in 1948
first disks
could only play a couple of minutes of music
changing promotion
customization creates different products for different outlets ex. ariana grande marketing her song on twitter 20 days before it is released
electromagnetic tapes
development of 8 track and cassettes during 1960s poorer sound quality than LPs but consumers were willing to trade quality for portability
decreasing costs
digital delivery has lowered record companies expenditures physical sales still account for much of the industry's global revenue over half of revenue now comes from digital downloads, subscriptions, advertising
long tail
digital distribution has allowed for making profit through the long tail the retailing strategy of selling a large number of unique items in relatively small quantities sells a great variety of items, but fewer of each item selling a few types of many = selling many of a few
singles v whole album
digital units allow us to download only one song at a time buying an entire album helped the artists because they were able to make riskier songs and test the waters but the album still sold because of the most popular hits
early record business
dominated by classical music and then big bands and swing greatly increased sales of records
youth
drives on-demand streaming 60% of streamers are between the ages of 13 and 34
expansion of recording industry
due to popularity of streaming services that let listeners choose from a vast library of music smartphones are the third most popular device on which to listen to music
streaming encourages more creativity
especially in those who are already established because they don't need to worry about what sounds and structures radio gatekeepers will allow they can get poetic, political, or weird if they want
taylor swift's savvy marketing
gives us a good idea of what it takes for an artist to thrive in a digital age get the album with a large pie from Papa John's
spotify
has both free and paid versions
music industry
highest rate of turnover of talent and content popular artists and genres constantly changing
360 deals
in return for providing financial support for the artist (direct advances and funds for marketing, promotion, and touring) the companies get a cut of all revenue producing activities in which the artists are involved (concerts, merchandise sales, product endorsements)
3 factors that benefitted the recording industry
increasing popularity of FM radio led to greater exposure to recorded music there was potential to make a great deal of money music became a very important part of the counterculture scene of the time
quantifying success
is challenging because there are multiple distribution platforms charts today measure popularity not just sales
album era
less than 1% of songs accounted for more than eighty percent of the revenue album era is rading
collective activity
listening used to be collective but not it is a solitary experience
conglomerates
major labels are part of a larger conglomerate these enterprises make money in a variety of ways other than selling music people are spending money on electronic devices (MP3 players) which also help the business it is not uncommon for companies to push media content with the goal of making money through sales of technological hardware
artistic statements
the beatles, the who delivered artistic statements via vinyl albums continuous theme, texture, storytelling throughout album
other revenue streams
making money from ring tones, licensing fees for computer games (Rock Band) and royalties from satellite and internet radio make money by licensing music to films and TV some bands are allowing fans to pay whatever they wish to download their albums
streaming services don't compensate artists?
many complain that fees paid are much too small low royalty rates taylor swift removed her music from spotify
decline in radio importance
many young people have opted for iPods
mondegreens
misunderstood lyrics
success
more challenging in the digital age but swift has shown that it is obtainable
youtube
most popular of all listening platforms
rock and roll
music business boomed
napster
music sharing sites reintroduced the single record companies sued napster but users didn't return to CDs as they thought users splintered to other sharing sites until apple created itunes
decline in quality of recorded music
music sound quality is suffering compressed computer films and iPods are the most popular vehicles for music consumption but they deliver sound of less quality than CDs or vinyl
MTV
music video station began in 1980 videos became more effective than touring for selling records videos helped give new artists and genres exposure
recording industry and radio
no longer competition between the two because a symbiotic relationship developed
artist's route to success
no longer dependent on radio play and support by recording company more artists are depending on Facebook, Youtube, Soundcloud
recording industry
oldest of electronic media hit hard by radio competition in 1920s where people could get live music for free and better sound after they purchased a radio
digital technology
pain for the recording industry total revenue in US music sales plunged albums that top the billboard charts do so with historically low levels of sales
ways to obtain music online
peer-to-peer file sharing services legal download subscription services
secondary activity
people used to sit around and listen to music but now it is a secondary activity listen when they are primarily doing something else
top of charts for sales of physical units
primarily artists over the age of 40 James Taylor, Barbra Streisand baby boomers and children were the primary audience for CD sales because they weren't accustomed to file-sharing services
independent labels
produce the majority of music titles but they don't make a large profit
major labels
profit oriented part of recording business is dominated globally by three companies Universal, Sony, and Warner produce the music that sells the most
early distribution
record companies manufactured albums and delivered them to retail stores, promoted them in newspapers, magazines, TV then waited for sales proceeds to roll in
music locker
storage services that can play files remotely web based hard drive backup
cloud services
stream content from remote servers allowing anything with an internet connection to become a portal for a potentially vast library of entertainment
illegal downloads
streaming has made illegal downloads less attractive because streaming services are so easy and convenient
concern of record companies
streaming services make so much music available for free that customers have little incentive to buy any
vinyl
superior audio technology is not dead and is making a comeback vinyl and streaming are the only formats that are growing
cd burning
taken a toll on the recording industry more blank CDs are sold than recorded CDs