Resurgence Of Vinyl And Its Effects

Ask anyone how they listen to music the answer will likely be through any means of easy access at an affordable cost. A study conducted by news outlet Nielsen 's Music 360 claimed, “Americans streamed 164 billion on-demand tracks across audio and video platforms in 2014”. The rapid increase in popularity music streaming platforms are experiencing leaves people wondering what that means for the music industry. When more consumers utilize the on-demand method of entertainment access, how does that translate to the artist being accessed? Astra Taylor contributes to this discussion in her book, “The People’s Platform: Taking Back Power and Culture in the Digital Age”. She lays criticism upon the idea of a more digitized

Throughout the 1950’s and 1960’s, a wave of new musical movements by independent record labels and new artists emerged in the United States. This movement is captured in the stories of those label creators and owners, and in the turbulent journey through their successes and failures. The first emergence was fueled by multiple factors: competitive economic circumstances, up-and-coming local musical talent in conjunction with the independent labels and studio owners, and the commercially viable musical interest and curiosity of consumers in these local artists. An article poses another causative factor that makes sense: when rock and roll

Despite all their flaws, vinyls continue to be made and sold, and any music aficionado knows that in order to have the best and most natural sound they'll have to find a vinyl record. Vinyls left behind a lasting legacy of pure sound, and no other form of recording has ever surpassed

Music can be observed as one of the oldest pieces of art and entertainment. The industry is evolving at a hasty rate, with all thanks to the exponential growth of technology. Trends have come and gone over time since media productions are compelled to accompany these changes in technology in order to keep profit. With these advancements, the experience for the music industry and the user has terrifically changed. In this essay, I argue that there has been a drastic evolution in how the way music is recorded and consumed over several centuries. Throughout this period, several pioneers have met the needs to organize craze and association of a feasible business standard for the future of the music industry.

Though the projections for the fall quarter look promising the resurge us of books and CD’s is unlikely. Recent reports have sales of books falling as much as 34% over last year and the increase of eBooks over 300%. (Wolman, 2011) It also has CD sales being cut in half over the past decade. The rise of people buying digital music and streaming music is significant.

Rock and pop have been evolving areas of music for the last fifty years. They have created riches for people, and have created artifacts that are now considered precious. Christie’s Rock & Pop Memorabilia by Peter Doggett and Sarah Hodgson describes the basic information of artists and their now famous music and artifacts. If you are wondering what a memorabilia is, in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary a memorabilia is defined as, “objects or materials that are collected because they are related to a particular event, person, etc.” The ages of rock and pop have had an abundance of memorabilia that is worthy of recognition.

Although there are many different forms of media that have been impacted in this attention span shift, I would like to emphasize the shift in music sales. The steady decrease in attention span correlates directly with album sales over the last 35 years. I have selected 3 albums, released in 1980, 1990, and 2000, to show the steady decline in album sales. I chose ACDC’s “Back in Black” for its iconic history, Madonna’s “The Immaculate Collection” for its unique impact, and Eminem’s “The Marshal Mathers LP” for its distinct recognition. The sales of these albums show the decline in album sales over time. Each of these massively popular artists had less and less success selling albums, compared to individual songs in the music industry

The ever-changing landscape of music distribution, due to constant advancements in technology, is sometimes hard to keep up with for artist, producer, and consumer alike. New editions of textbooks in Music Business classes are issued each year, and changes are made in the industry before the semester is even over. Because of this, it is vital for the industry to not only not only be aware of what is currently going happening, but also be able to foresee the direction that the music business is heading in. In this aspect, it seems that we are at a turning point where consumers and artists are taking

This next Saturday April 22nd Las Vegas, and every major city in the US will be celebrating the 10th edition of Record Store Day, an initiative started on the U.S. and now turned into a worldwide event. As the means through which we consume our music have shifted over the past decade, record stores have slowly become victims of new media, like MP3 digital files and more recently, streaming services. Back in the year of 2007, independent record store owners and their employees met to discuss ways to save their industry, and they brainstormed this idea of Record Store Day, which was in part modeled after a similar event, which focused on celebrating and promoting comic book culture. This once a year event has proven to significantly increase the traffic and profits for independent record stores, an achievement made possible through the collaboration of artists and record labels, who prepare special limited releases, which often include vinyl reissues, live albums or box sets to be released on this

The metaphoric “death” of vinyl is an elongated and prevailing affair that represents the ending of an era and the beginning of the digital age. The coming, going, and comeback of vinyl records has spiked curiosity in many, as we’re left wondering what factors might contribute to the preservation of this sound storage medium, and the fairly recent resurrection of the trend.

Since the iTunes music store was introduced on April 28, 2003, gross music sales have plummeted in the United States - from $11.8 billion in 2003 to $7.1 billion in 2012, according to the Recording Industry Association of America (Covert). Counterintuitively, during that time consumers were buying more music than ever. How is that possible? It 's because iTunes had made digital singles popular and was selling them cheap. This would change the music industry forever. In 2000, Americans bought 943 million CD albums (Covert), and digital sales didn’t even make a dent in comparison. But by 2007, those inexpensive singles overtook CDs by a wide margin, generating 819 million sales compared to just 500 million for the CD.

Over the past decade, the use of CDs has been replaced with online streaming and retailing. This has eliminated much of the record companies revenues as they were used to making most of their profit off of distribution and promotion of physical copies of artists albums (Niemen). This has caused for a major shift and remodeling of major players in the music industries business models. Companies such Sony, Warner Music Group and Universal Music Group have started to completely rethink the way they conduct business (Forbes). In the past record labels were not only responsible for production, distribution and promotion of an artist and his/her music, but they also acted as a bank (Forbes), funding the artists tours and recording sessions. Recently, these music giants have been moving towards becoming more of a modular network organization. What this means is that they are less occupied with the nitty gritty, and more focused on what they do best which is distribution and promotion. This also allows for more freedom of creativity for the artist as well as fairer split of profits (Forbes). This adaption of new business models clearly shows the versatility of the music industry in adapting to new times and technologies.

Radiohead, one of the most popular and contemporary bands of this period, attempted a significant break from the industry standard of fixed price music. In 2007, Radiohead had planned release of its new album, “In Rainbows”, exclusively as a digital download on the band’s website, with an innovative pricing option of allowing its buyers to decide on how much they wanted to pay for the music. Radiohead’s “name-your-own price” pricing model for its new album generated an intense speculation about the future of recorded music industry. The key issues with Radiohead’s innovative distribution model and my views after an analysis of these issues are as follows:

In the midst of the United States’ “dot com bubble” (years 1997-2000), there was a surge in technology that brought about file sharing and digital downloads. Threatening the survival of the music industry and introducing a unique set of challenges for the industry to overcome. To remain relevant in the new global market of digital music online, the music industry would have to evolve and change with the introduction of each new facet technology had to offer. The introduction of digitally compressed music files, so easily attainable for a small fee or downloaded legally (pirated) for free, made the music industry reevaluate how to make a profit and protect copyrights. Social media created a visible opportunity for both consumers and artists to maintain digital relationships while providing a platform for consumers to follow and discover new musicians and bands, naturally, making the internet a promotional medium for artists. As the corner record shops closed to make way for virtual storefronts and instant downloads; the internet, digital downloading, and social media made an enormous impact on the music industry that has changed the way consumers purchase, source, listen to, and produce music today.

The evolution of the music industry follows the familiar pattern of digitization. Innovation began with the introduction of the vinyl record, transitioned from the cassette tape to the compact disc and landed us in an era of digital downloads. The emergence of music streaming services like Spotify has progressed the industry even further, giving consumers the ability to access music on demand using download-free online platforms. Spotify faces criticism from artists as a result of the overlap of creativity and commerce. They argue that business activities corrupt creativity, transforming it into a tool for profitability rather than an outlet for expression. Artists insist that Spotify deters album sales, favors established artists and fails to support them financially. However, Spotify was created for consumers. It delivers an accessible alternative to purchasing and downloading music. The interplay between creativity and commerce is changing the nature of the music industry. Spotify has adapted to this change, providing a platform that supports both artists and consumers. Through analysis of the market, artist’s revenue, record labels and consumers, I will argue that artists should accept the evolution of the industry and support Spotify.