The State of The Music Industry in 2012 : RESEARCH

Music has changed within the past 5 years let alone 10. Music consumption has changed, music distribution has changed and most importantly the dawn of the digital download and social networking era had changed music forever.

The very big music company’s had been slow to react to the change happening in music, but now they are alert to the ever changing landscape of music. New artists signed now by big labels really do not have much power or influence in how they are marketed, styled and sold, even the percentage of money they make from their music sales have decreased. This is the music industries response to dwindling album sales and the fall of the physical CD due to mass illegal downloading.

With such falling sales figures artists have had to look at other avenues for better income and this has seen a rise in music concerts and gigs, and at these performances artist push to sell their own branded merchandise to capitalize on their fan base.

Apple reinvented the way we interact with and buy music with their IPod’s and ITunes Store. Now there is another big phenomena called ‘Social Networking’. The social network era has brought a flurry of socializing websites such as YouTube, Facebook & Twitter that make it easier for people to download and share music. Websites like YouTube have made it easy for anyone to upload their own music onto the site which is then made available to the whole world to see.

The popularity of YouTube means that a good music video is as important as ever. The video must draw in the artists default target audience but also appeal to a wider audience which can then be monetized.

The big 4 music labels that dominate the music industry make all the money. Independent labels and artists must rely on very niche fan bases that they have built up through social media. However well social media can work for people it doesn’t mean they can make good money from it that still lies at the hand of the major labels that hold the financial muscle.

Below I have made a video showing the strength the big 4 have on the music industry because they have all the major mainstream artists signed up to them.