Once I heard Kanye West saying that the Internet destroyed
the music industry. As time passed by, this comment became reality. Artists who
want to make money in the industry need to go on tour and sale lots of
merchandise to get something. Some of them start doing public appearances, TV
shows, or designing clothing lines because they need to make money one way or
the other.
New artists use to dream about getting a record
deal. If they got this, they would need to focus only on writing and
composing new music. The record label would take care of marketing, live
performance, album sales, retail, and merchandise. Everything was supposed to
be taking care off. Digital distribution has changed this dream. Any artist
without a record
deal can survive in the industry. They can distribute all their music
digitally and promote themselves thru social media.
Digital
landscape is changing all the music industry, and this one needs to adapt
to this new vision of the present and future. CDs are going to be gone soon,
and what is next? Digital distribution is the new way. Fans want to interact
more with their idols. They want to have all information in their hands any
moment they want to see an update. They need apps, on demand streaming, and social
media. They want to be connected, and have the ability to interact with them all
the time. This is only possible with the new digital era.
There are different trends
that we see the digital
world is located right now.
- Mobile Apps: Fans want to have all the available info in their hands 24/7.
- Digital Streaming: Companies like iTunes, Google Play, Amazon, and Yahoo are taking over this industry.
- Social media: Facebook and Twitter are the kings of interaction between billions of parties.
- Platforms: Websites and live streaming are the base of information.
- Ads: Major sales are happening here as you can see in the image below.
We need to see where we are located in all of these changes.
Are we all about digital? Or are we still living in the old music industry
ways?
