Me and kierans revision of terminology

music industry terminology with links

Mock question

To what extent does digital distribution affect the marketing and consumption of music products in the media area you have studied.

Digital distribution has disrupted the traditional methods of the marketing and consumption of music. This is through advances in technology such as the rise of social media and the ability to illegally download music for free.

Social media such as twitter and instagram and websites for uploading new music like youtube and soundcloud. This allows for feedback useful to the a&r department and also allows for the exchange of new music. This can be a good thing as people can leave good feedback in the form of likes and comments and also they can see what isnt so effective by using dislikes and commenting. The fanbase regularly check the artists songs so by using the feedback the artist becomes more consistent. The use of these sites can also be bad however, the music can be devalued by prosumers like madeon who take the music by downloading it and changing it. Madeon was eventually signed by sony by proving he can take some of their songs and produce gold with it, so youtube is an advantage for prosumers like him.

Another example of digital distribution affecting the marketing and consumption of music is shows such as x factor. Simon cowell the ceo of syco (a branch of sony) gets the acts in the show to perform songs in sony's back catalogue. The advantages of this is that old songs that would not get any sales anymore are reacknowledged to the public's ears. This boosts sales of the original record and also sales are made from the x factor version by the actual itunes sales and by voting from the public. The disadvantages of this is that it devalues music because the original song loses its meaning.

The artist Beck uses an alternative method to distributed music to other artists. He released 'song reader' in the form of scores, this allowed the public to have their own take on the music and interpret it themselves. 

The indie label GOOD music (Getting Out Our Dreams) is a branch of def jam music. They digitally distribute their music  through their own website which fans check regularly and also they have their albums on itunes. Their music appears in the game grand theft auto 5, old def jam and new GOOD music songs in the game. This affects how people are consuming the music because they are consuming it through purchasing the game and not an album. It also revamps old songs and makes them relevant again, boosting sales.

GOOD Music (Case Study - Indie Record Labels)

Case Study - Beck (DIY)

Exchange:

The songs are exchanged between Beck's fans as they make videos of how they interpreted the songs. creates a bond between the musician and the fans. They exchange their versions on the song for feedback, likes and comments on Youtube and sound cloud, and ultimately be good enough for Beck himself and be part of the song reader website

Distribution and Marketing:

Distributed by fans and sheet music. Beck distributes the songs and then fans distribute their versions. it is marketed to a certain audience; anyone who can play an instrument can learn Beck's songs.it has been distributed to companies like Youtube and Amazon where fan mad music videos are made as prosumers.

Major and DIY:

Types of record label like Sony who has loads of smaller record labels branching from it. DIY is a solo artist who doesn't rely on any of these and does it himself. Beck is an example of DIY.

Ownership and Back Catalogue:

A major record label would have a back catalogue (Sony) who go through all their artists associated with them and re-inventing old songs with a new artist to make more money from the artist.
Ownership is when you own the music you create and people would have to personally contact you to use your music. Beck made people pay for song reader to listen to his music.


Translation:

In the case of Beck, the music sheets given, are translated depending on how their fans see his intentions. they upload their version through sites such as soundcloud and youtube. The music is translated through technology. This is important in Beck's songreader because their is no hard copy of the album, only websites with the most popular versions.

Demise of the music industry

This article by the guardian writes about the common perception that the sales of the music industry are falling due to illegal downloads, and that this is not actually the case and the music industry is a 'success story' of the recession.

It says: "Last year sales of singles soared to an all-time record of 152.7m units, an astonishing 33% rise in a year when the whole economy (GDP) contracted by 3.3%. If the music pundits seriously think that these are not being bought by kids, then it shows how out of touch they are with their customers. These same youngsters who were – and probably still are – massively downloading free music from the internet were prepared to pay up to £3 a pop for an insipid ringtone"

They use the bottled water industry as a comparison "the bottled water industry should have been their model. It got away with charging us lots of money for a product that was no better than free tapwater through clever marketing."

Music Industry Interview Script

How do you purchase music, if at all?

S: when I was younger I used to use all my itunes vouchers given to me as gifts to buy songs. Also I used to purchase albums from stores like HMV with my pocket money. However, back then I only listened to chart music which was very accessible.

K: i have bought music occasionally from places like HMV with gift vouchers i have been given and when i have wanted an album i would usually buy it off of itunes  .

Who's your favourite artist at the moment?

S: Joey badass is my favourite artist at the moment because he brings old school rap back to the modern era with his own twist to it. Him along with his movement called pro era make very chilled out music.

K: My favourite artist at the moment is Earl Sweatshirt. I like to listen to his music when i get bored and have nothing to do.

Do you listen to music for free, and how?

S: In these times I listen to all my music for free. I download all the albums I desire through sites such as utorrentz, audiomack and albumjams which have all the rap albums I look for and also keep up to date with the newest releases

K: At this time i listen to all my music i have for free because i download it from places like youtube and other music sites, this enables me to listen to lots of music without having to pay lots for the albums. I can now download the whole albums as well as single songs

How do you find out about new music?

K: I find out about new music from places like soundclound and spotify, as well as listening to the radio     occasionally and hearing songs that i like.

How has technology helped to share music?

K: I think that technology has help to share music as you can share music on youtube and soundcloud without having to pay anything.