Explore the mechanics of the modern music industry
The music industry is one of the longest running industries which has massive impact on the society we live in. Our access to music used to be quite limited as you'd have to go out and physically search for the album you're after. Whereas now it's all literally at our finger tips, you're just a couple of clicks away from accessing millions of songs. We've got the constantly developing technology to thank for that. At first it seemed like the music industry was struggling to adapt to all the rapid changes from mp3 to iTunes and now the wonderful world of streaming.
The value of the recording industry was $15 billion in 2015, this was also the year that digital (45 percent) became the primary revenue stream for recorded music, overtaking sales of physical formats (39 percent).
The graph on the right clearly shows the decline in physical revenues from roughly $18b in 2005 to just above $5b in 2015. Whilst this was happening, the digital revenues were slowly increasing more and more each year, till 2015 where it managed to overtake physical revenues.
Streaming remains the industry's fastest growing revenue source - jumping from just 8 million users in 2010 to 68 million in 2015. People like the idea of having pretty much any music available on their smartphone/tablet/laptop, as it's much easier than going out to physically buy the album. However, downloads remain a significant source in accessing music. It also allows you to explore and find new music very easily and quickly by giving you 'suggestions' or showing what others are listening to.
This is due to the music industry's success at being able to adapt to the rapidly changing digital age through services such as Spotify (2008), Apple Music (2015), Deezer (2009), Tidal (2015) being some of the most popular ways to listen to music.
Streaming is bringing significant changes to the way countries run their music charts, as many are now incorporating streaming into their charts to try to better reflect how music is consumed today.
Live music is the one area in the industry's revenue that remains reliable as a guaranteed source of cash. People still value the experience of physically going to see their favourite artists perform. For example, Adele's live tour in 2017 at Wembley Stadium in June/July is already all sold out - including the VIP tickets!
Adele who is currently with working with Sony through Columbia Records "with biggest ever record deal for British Musician" according to The Guardian. Her album "25" was number 1 in the global top 10 albums of 2015. Adele is clearly doing very well for herself, unfortunately that is not the case with all musicians.
After watching the documentary about the life and death of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia; "Amy" (2015). It opened my eyes to how the music industry will stop at nothing to exploit their artists. Although everyone seemed to had noticed Amy's drug problems and eating disorder, not even her own father thought she needed help. If the music industry took better care of her, maybe she'd still be alive today, rather than exploiting her till she could no longer handle the weight on her shoulders. The same could be said for many other amazing artists such as Kurt Cobain. This shows how toxic the music industry can be.
The graph on the right clearly shows the decline in physical revenues from roughly $18b in 2005 to just above $5b in 2015. Whilst this was happening, the digital revenues were slowly increasing more and more each year, till 2015 where it managed to overtake physical revenues.
Streaming remains the industry's fastest growing revenue source - jumping from just 8 million users in 2010 to 68 million in 2015. People like the idea of having pretty much any music available on their smartphone/tablet/laptop, as it's much easier than going out to physically buy the album. However, downloads remain a significant source in accessing music. It also allows you to explore and find new music very easily and quickly by giving you 'suggestions' or showing what others are listening to.
Streaming is bringing significant changes to the way countries run their music charts, as many are now incorporating streaming into their charts to try to better reflect how music is consumed today.
After watching the documentary about the life and death of singer-songwriter Amy Winehouse, directed by Asif Kapadia; "Amy" (2015). It opened my eyes to how the music industry will stop at nothing to exploit their artists. Although everyone seemed to had noticed Amy's drug problems and eating disorder, not even her own father thought she needed help. If the music industry took better care of her, maybe she'd still be alive today, rather than exploiting her till she could no longer handle the weight on her shoulders. The same could be said for many other amazing artists such as Kurt Cobain. This shows how toxic the music industry can be.
You have broken down the points in a very structured format, targeting each factor contributing to the growth of the industry as well as the difference between the years. You also made use of relevant graphs and charts which support your facts and this has made your essay more factual. You also keyed in your case studies which evidently shows how the industry is able to influence artist as well as control them (as portrayed in the life of Amy Winehouse). You have an understandable structure to your essay which also meets all the requirements of understanding the mechanics of the music industry. Well done :)
ReplyDeleteYour structure was very good as most of the paragraphs link and proceed very well. The information in each paragraph was also very concise and easy to understand. Your inclusion of our case studies Adele and Amy Winehouse was also good.
ReplyDeleteYou have used images of graphs to back up the points you have made which is good. You compared the differences in years and how the music industry has developed into what it is today. Alongside this, you also had good structure, well done!
ReplyDeleteThe stats and graphs are good, however, you could have possibly converted the statistics into pounds rather than dollars as we are in the UK and our three music artists are British. However, overall the essay is good and your points are strongly broken down.
ReplyDeleteThe structure of the piece is really good and you link each section in a flowing way, you have included vital statistics but worded them in a way that is not overwhelming. You included the use of our 3 case studies giving examples which is great and it is written in a complete and solid way.
ReplyDeleteVery nice statistical breakdown and analysis of various aspects of the Music Industry, will be especially useful when it comes to the exam. Also a really, really good analysis of progression of the music industry over the years.
ReplyDeleteVery nice statistical breakdown and analysis of various aspects of the Music Industry, will be especially useful when it comes to the exam. Also a really, really good analysis of progression of the music industry over the years.
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