Independent research on changes in production in the music industry in the last 10 years

The digital world has truly transformed the world of music. Up until around 2005 the vast majority of people bought all their music from music stores and record shops in the form of CDs. This meant that the shops were very profitable due to music playing a big part in most peoples lives. The start of the digital revolution was actually a positive for the record stores due to the introduction of the walkman CD/tape player which resulted in a huge influx of people buying tapes and CDs. However, as technology advanced people changed the ways they obtained their music. Firstly, there was the MP3 player introduced in the late 1990s, this signalled the beginning of the end for record shops. Due to the huge increase in computer technology, more people were able to download their music without buying a hard copy, and could therefore put it on their MP3 player where they had 24/7 access to it. Then came the introduction of iTunes in 2001, which led the way for hundreds of other online music download services. This came about at the same time of the introduction of the iPod which effectively changed the whole music industry completely. People now started to buy their music digitally, and listen to them on their Apple devices. Nowadays, digital technology is increasing at a scarily fast rate. As a result, even the iPod's days are numbered, which was the game changer as far as music technology goes. Due to mobile phones now being able to do basically everything that a laptop and iPod can do, as well as make calls and text, people are now starting to access and listen to their music in this way.

There are many advantages of the digital revolution, especially for the public. The main advantage would be the way in which we can now obtain and listen to music. Twenty years ago if someone wanted to listen to music, they would have to be in a house, with a CD player and a CD. Nowadays, people can listen to music wherever they go and also download it from their mobile phones at the touch of a button. This makes music
a lot more accessible and is due to the vast changes/advancements in digital technology. There are also disadvantages however, since most people do not download their music anymore they do not have hard copies, therefore if their mobile, laptop or iPod breaks it is likely they will lose all access of it. It has also restricted people being able to lend each other music such as albums etc which is also a social disadvantage.

As everyone knows the music industry has been hit hard by the increasing growth in piracy and internet in general which has left many artists losing out on record sales which they wouldn't have lost twenty years ago. This is due to people illegally downloading their music in order to save money. This has had many detrimental effects on music artists, record companies, record shops and many more. We don't need to look far to see the effect it has had, the huge multi-national firm HMV has recently went into administration and closed down the vast majority of their shops. This is the same firm which only a few years ago was booming and bringing in massive profits each year. HMV can not just blame illegal downloading for this, they most also point the finger at the digital revolution such as Youtube, Spotify and iTunes which contribute to how millions across the world now consume their music.
Record labels are also starting to have less control over artists due to the huge launch of technology and internet over recent years. For instance, an artist can build their own studio, make their own music then advertise it round the world by just sitting behind a computer screen. This is due to the revolution of social networking and websites such as Twitter and Facebook which allows the artists to have a closer relationship with their fans. This therefore means they can market their music to fans by themselves. All this means that the artists have become a lot less dependant on the record labels which means in years to come it is very likely that they will face the same fate as record shops such as HMV.

Here is a great photo which sums up how music distribution has changed over the last 30 years. It shows the change from the LP/EP, to the cassette, then the birth of the CD which reigned at the top until now when it was finally overtook by the various methods online downloading. It only goes as far as 2010, and I suspect there would be a huge change since then which would show online downloading increasing rapidly.
Fifteen years ago the vast majority of music artists would have distributed their music through music stores in the form of CDs, as a result these stores were very popular and easy to find. However, nowadays the majority of artists' main source of distribution is online as this is where the majority of people tend to be. Since hundreds of millions of people surf the internet each day, it is common sense that this is the most effective place to distribute music and advertise it. As a result, many music stores have went bust and shut down, and many new online stores have opened in order to keep up with the changing market and consumer needs.

The news that revenue from recorded music worldwide in 2012 grew for the first time since 1999 is surely heartening for an industry struggling to get to grips with digital and overcome piracy – even if it's just by 0.2% to $16.48bn.

It is, however, worth noting that revenue levels are still down more than 40% from the halcyon days of the late 1990s when CDs reigned supreme and online filesharing was still over the horizon.

Twitter and Apple prepare to launch music services

Biggest music retailer close to securing streaming licences with major labels, as Twitter Music gears up for Coachella debut.

In a debate on Monday about executive pay, he said: "I think it's mad that members of boy band One Direction made £5m each last year."

Business secretary Vince Cable, also at the debate, was more cautious about attacking one of Britain's biggest recent exports and tried to bring the debate back to the corporate sector. "I don't want to attack One Direction," he said, "but there is a general issue of chief execs in particular who are paid well beyond what can be justified in terms of the performance of their companies, and that's something the government is now trying to address."