Last week we had our lead bloggers discuss how the Internet is impacting the film industry, not only is it impacting the film industry but the music industry as well. About twenty years ago consumers relied almost only on CD’s and radio. The Internet soon started to allow consumers to download music illegally using programs like Napster, and Limewire. Pirated music became a huge problem because there was no way to stop people from downloading illegally (Werde). “The down side is that the business side of music is struggling to generate enough revenue because of the new technology”(Recording Connection Audio Institute). Some believe that the Internet has benefited artists and others believe that it has changed the music industry for the worse.
The bad that comes with the Internet is that illegal downloading has made it very hard for artists to make money from music sales, so in the recent years the real income has been through playing their music live, aka going on tour. “The concert business has never been bigger, in dissonant contrast to the recorded-music business”(Kafka). Taylor Swift’s “1989” tour grossed over $250 million worldwide. Music sales have dropped for three years in a row, from $13 billion to $11.5 billion in 2002 and the tour business has boomed for four years straight, from $1.3 billion in 1998 to $2.1 billion last year(Kafka). "The top 10 percent of artists make money selling records. The rest go on tour," says Scott Welch. Swift’s tour, featured a new guest celebrity artist in almost every city she performed in. A way that she promoted this was by using different social media platforms to show fans a behind-the-scenes look at each tour date and who she brought on stage on that day. I think this really helped her promote her tour and made fans want to attend because it gave them the excitement to not know who she would be bringing on stage the night you attend (Lewis).
Artists not only have started to use social media platforms to connect with fans on a more personal level but they now use it to promote their tours, and other things such as products they endorse. When you look at sites like Twitaholic, you can see that most of the top 100 Twitterholics based on followers are musicians. With names like Katy Perry, Justin Bieber, and Rhianna, in the top ten you know they are definitely using social media to their advantage. I think that having a great social media strategy as a musician is key to generating a fan base like no other. Except, just posting the same old content is not going to be enough. Artists definitely need to get very creative with their social posts and try out new things. A good example of an artist who uses social media to connect with fans and does a great job with it, would be John Mayer. He was one of the first artist to use the social media platform Periscope to broadcast private concerts just for his Periscope fans. Even though he has over 93,000 Periscope followers, he is basically giving his fans a unique experience because it feels like he is playing just for you. Sometimes during his broadcasts he does things other than sing to keep his fans interested, he sometimes gives guitar lessons or does a question and answer type of broadcast with questions the fans ask. Mayer’s approach to Periscope and his ability to use social media to his full advantage is something that that many artist should follow because it will really help them connect to their fans.
I know that I see several artist such as Maluma, and Nicky Jam use social media to promote their newest songs. They both used a similar strategy which was asking fans to upload and tag them in a video with their song in the background. Thousands and thousands of fans actually did this because the artists were reposting their posts and they had a chance to be posted on an artists social media account. Justin Bieber used a similar tactic, he used his celebrity friends, and had them take pictures with a sign that had a countdown and said “What Do You Mean?” and everyday was someone new so this really helped him promote his new single. Justin Bieber has 77,599,690 followers on Twitter and 61.5 million followers on Instagram meaning all those people saw the countdown everyday until the release of the song allowing for hype.
The Internet has not only changed how music is consumed but it has also changed the way it is produced. “Where twenty years ago, aspiring artists would rely on corporate bigwigs to listen to their demo disc, the Internet has put some power back in their artist’s hands”(Harrison). Music artists now have the ability to produce their own songs, and upload it within seconds to the Internet and further promote it. I personally have a few friends who sing, record themselves, and upload their tracks to social media platforms like Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, Soundcloud, etc. This benefits aspiring musicians and artists because these social media platforms can allow for listeners to discover them and their talent. Sites like Youtube can really benefit musicians who cannot afford to work with a record label. “As soon as a track is uploaded to the Internet it can be accessed by people across the world if they know where to look”(Harrison). A great example is Justin Bieber, again. He started to post homemade videos on Youtube and was discovered by music manager named Scooter Braun. Sites like Youtube, and Facebook also allow for videos to go viral, and in recent years there have been many songs that have become successful due to this. As mentioned previously, once a video is uploaded it can be accessed by anyone anywhere.
So what does this mean for the future? Well according to Powell-Morse, over the years revenue from tours has increased, but attendance has actually begun to decrease. Fewer people are attending concerts, but the cost of tickets continue to rise, will this just cause for even less ticket sales in the future or will artists like Taylor Swift and One Direction continue to make millions? All of these new trends in the music industry are a direct result of the Internet. The ability to not only download but share and promote music to anyone via social media platforms dramatically changes how artists can go about pursuing their careers (Johnson). With the Internet connectivity continuing to grow and the technology of smartphones continuing to improve I predict that the Internet will continue to have a huge impact on how music is produced, consumed, and shared. Artists will continue to keep up with technology and social media.
On a side note, but very relative, Instagram is changing March 29th, 2016. Instagram is going to get rid of their chronological feed. Instagram will now only show you photos it thinks you want to see. Think about how these changes might affect the music industry when it comes to artists trying to promote themselves, their music and products they may endorse.
Work Cited
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"Social Media Is Revolutionising the Music Industry - Brandwatch." Brandwatch. BrandWatch, 29 Aug. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Harrison, Laura. "How Has the Internet and Social Media Changed the Music Industry?" Socialnomics. Socialnomics, 23 July 2014. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"How The Internet Changed Music." Recording Connection Audio Institute. Recording Connection Audio Institute, 20 May 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
ArtistsHouseMusic. "Artists House Music: Touring as a Source of Revenue." YouTube. YouTube, 15 Sept. 2011. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Kafka, Peter, Href, Http, WWW.FORBES, Target, External, and FORBES.COM. "Concert Tours Are Where the Real Money Is." ABC News. ABC News Network, 11 July 2016. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
V, Brenden. "Music Sales Falling, Tour Revenue in Danger. Can the Industry Survive? - DJBooth." DJBooth RSS. DJBooth, n.d. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
Johnson, Will. "How the Internet Is Helping the Music Industry | Will Johnson – Digital America." Digital America. Digital America, 21 Oct. 2013. Web. 27 Mar. 2016.
"Instagram: Most-followed Accounts Worldwide 2016 | Statistic." Statista. The Statics Portal, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
"Twitterholic.comTwitaholic." Top Twitter User Rankings & Stats. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Werde, Bill. "A Decade In Relief." Billboard 121.51 (2009): 6. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
Lewis, Randy. "Taylor Swift's '1989' Is 2015's Highest Grossing Concert Tour by Far." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2016.
