How far do you think developments in technology have changed the way the music industry operates?
Consider how new technologies have changed the relationship between audiences and artists.
It is amazing to me how much the technology has changed over these recent years. From vinyl records to the ipod touch, where will it go next!?
Back in the 60s people would listen to the their music using various methods but most not being around today. The most common way of listening to music would be having to wait for the song on the radio. This is a very time consuming, and I can imagine a very frustrating process. This then lead to being able to buy vinyl records of the specific artist. This was much easier than waiting on the radio but still was a very long process as you could never flick through track specifically. Another way of listening to your music would be paying a small amount of money on the juke box. The juke box would be in clubs or pubs so you could choose which song the whole area would listen to.
Another common way of listening to music back then was going to festivals or attending gigs. This is still a very common way of listening to music now a days which is interesting. To see the band live is a privelidge now but back then even more so as they could not easily listen to the music.
The tape player was a very successful way of listening to music. It was the first way of recording the songs you like rather than having to own the whole record. They would record a variety of tracks off of the radio for keepings.
The next revelation was the CD player. CDs were just like records but more compact and they are still around today but slowly declining. You could listen to them on your own CD player in your home or on a portable cd player. The CD is better compare to the record as the CD does not warp and doesn't scratch up as much as a record. Also the CD is just on one side, and you can easily skip through tracks, getting to a specific song.
The most recent way of playing music is the mp3/ipods. Comparing to the old basic records the ipod is a breeze. You can download any song on to it either legally or illegally therefore there is no need to buy the whole album. You can easily choose which song you want to listen to, and recetly you can either listen to in through headphones or aloud. You can also connect them to ipod speakers to play it even louder. On the more recent ipods you can connect to the internet therefore you can stream music from myspace or simply play it off youtube. Also you can connect it straight to itunes to buy tracks.
People are no tending to download their songs either legally or illegally. This is very easy to do using either itunes, spotify, bearshare, limewire, youtube converter etc. Artists that are not so famous have a tendancy of letting fans download their music for free so that more peolple can hear it so her fan bass increases. The problem with this method is that record labels and artists are not getting as much money from their songs/albums because people are downloading for free or simply just listening on the internet and not owning a copy. This sums up the large decrease in the purchase of CDs as people have the attitude of 'if I get it for free, why would I pay for a CD'. Itunes is a good way of downloading songs directly from the internet because you still have to pay which means the record label will still get money. But doing it illegally causes many a problems.
It is very easy for local artists to record their own songs now a days. There are certain softwares to allow you to record your own songs in the company of just your computer for example Logic studio for a mac. Compared to 50 years ago this seems amazing as to record your own songs back then you would have to travel to and pay for a recording studio. This is a very expensive job and to be honest recording your own song at home does not sound terrible. To become an artist is very easy now a days and some people are even doing it without a record label e.g. Arctic Monkeys. The Arctic Monkeys received lots of attention from BBC radio and the British tabloid press. A local amatuer photographer filmed the band's performance and produced a music video, releasing it on their website. They released several songs which were available on itunes and various other places on the internet for download.
The band refused to change their songs to suit the industry and resisted signing to a record label — "Before the hysteria started, the labels would say, 'I like you, but I'm not sure about this bit, and that song could do with this changing...' We never listened."Their cynicism towards the industry was such that record company scouts were refused guaranteed guest list entry for their gigs, a move described by MTV Australia as "We've got this far without them — why should we let them in?".The success of the strategy was illustrated with a series of sell-out gigs across the UK and Ireland.
It is clear that as technology evolves so does the needs of the audience. It is incredibly easy for us as fans or the artist to download or stream music for free, so why should we pay for a CD? Without buying CDs the record labels and artists are not receiving as much money as they used to. Illegal downloads and streaming is becoming more and more regular and this is what the audience is expecting - free music. Record labels have tried to have legal cases against particular sites, also individuals who have downloaded music have been taken to court. Record labels are trying to do the best they can to pull in people to buying CDs by giving links from the CD cover to join particular fan bases etc.
It is fascinating how far music technology has come along since back in the 50s and also how much technology has an impact on the creation of music. It is a lot easier to be heard now a days and a lot easier to listen to it. This is good for us being the audience as it is easy for us to get hold of the music but for the artists themselves and the record label they are not receiving as much money or business. There needs to be a way to stop piracy and getting people to buy the tracks instead.
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