Technology has been somewhat of a constantly hungry monster to the traditional music industry. First with the advent of e-commerce retail giants like Amazon and iTunes gobbled up down to earth music sellers like HMV, and if we thought that was about the limit of technology’s stamp on old school then we were mistaken. Now with smart phones taking all over the globe, apps have come to the forefront of changing the way music used to made or sold to eager fans who were more often than not burdened by bludgeoning costs. Apps or internet schemes like Spotify and Deezer have now traversed into the territory of radios.
Disruptions are now more spread on traditional channels like artists can now skip middlemen and touts; and connect directly with their fans or market via almost free channels of marketing courtesy of technology. A single tweet can now assure a band touring cities full occupancy at their concerts without spending bucket loads of money on old school advertising. An example of such a service provider would be Music Glue, the brainchild of Mark Meharry, which aims to allow artists to connect directly to their fans. Endorsed by indie bands like Mumford and Sons, this seems to be the favorable way for bands to make more and fans to spend less to share music among each other.
Traditional marketing channels have been proven to be excessively wasteful and revenues have been drying up since last few years. CDs and even CD players are non-existent now, and physical copies of music don’t find any favor. Now with the launch of e-subscriptions by companies like iTunes, digital copies and digital channels are the choice of the crowd now. According to Meharry, even Jay-Z could not make a concrete dent on the digital market with the Tidal scheme for exclusive digital content, because by nature digital material can never be exclusive. Both end consumers and selling artists are now aware of that. Big music companies are waking up to their excesses by scaling down of developing new artists and small independent labels can barely stay afloat due to ineffective marketing choices.
With the advent of social media on computers and smart phones alike, marketing is now a next to zero investment necessity. Music producers and artists are now using media such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Music Glue with setup costs near zero, to reach out to their fans who appreciate the decrease of costs in owning digital albums or even going out to watch organized concerts by their bands of choice. The new age digital formats and platforms are here to stay, we the people crave easy access and convenience and technology is here to deliver on those.
References:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2015/05/14/how-the-music-retail-industry-is-being-disrupted-beyond-all-recognition/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2015/05/14/how-the-music-retail-industry-is-being-disrupted-beyond-all-recognition/2/
Disruptions are now more spread on traditional channels like artists can now skip middlemen and touts; and connect directly with their fans or market via almost free channels of marketing courtesy of technology. A single tweet can now assure a band touring cities full occupancy at their concerts without spending bucket loads of money on old school advertising. An example of such a service provider would be Music Glue, the brainchild of Mark Meharry, which aims to allow artists to connect directly to their fans. Endorsed by indie bands like Mumford and Sons, this seems to be the favorable way for bands to make more and fans to spend less to share music among each other.
Traditional marketing channels have been proven to be excessively wasteful and revenues have been drying up since last few years. CDs and even CD players are non-existent now, and physical copies of music don’t find any favor. Now with the launch of e-subscriptions by companies like iTunes, digital copies and digital channels are the choice of the crowd now. According to Meharry, even Jay-Z could not make a concrete dent on the digital market with the Tidal scheme for exclusive digital content, because by nature digital material can never be exclusive. Both end consumers and selling artists are now aware of that. Big music companies are waking up to their excesses by scaling down of developing new artists and small independent labels can barely stay afloat due to ineffective marketing choices.
With the advent of social media on computers and smart phones alike, marketing is now a next to zero investment necessity. Music producers and artists are now using media such as YouTube, Instagram, Twitter and Music Glue with setup costs near zero, to reach out to their fans who appreciate the decrease of costs in owning digital albums or even going out to watch organized concerts by their bands of choice. The new age digital formats and platforms are here to stay, we the people crave easy access and convenience and technology is here to deliver on those.
References:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2015/05/14/how-the-music-retail-industry-is-being-disrupted-beyond-all-recognition/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/alisoncoleman/2015/05/14/how-the-music-retail-industry-is-being-disrupted-beyond-all-recognition/2/
