Current Developments and their Impact on the Music Industry - Essay Example

The music industry is a popular and constantly developing sphere that has been attracting people for many centuries due to its bright opportunities since it has always allowed people to express their thoughts, ideas and show themselves to the world. Within the frames of the research, we dwell upon different aspects of music industry and the changes that occurred in the world and influenced this industry. Current research aims to study the rise of independent specialized music festivals and its impact on musicians and other entrepreneurs. The present paper argues that the rise of the new digital technologies and the independent music festivals leads to fall of the well-known singers’, songwriters’ and other entrepreneurs’ careers.

As a starting point of the current research, it seems highly relevant to determine the elements the term “music industry” includes. The researcher Michael L. Jones points out that the interpretation of this issue should not be reduced to the notion “recording industry” only, conversely, music industry represents a broad sphere of activities that has specific roles for the singers, entrepreneurs, songwriters and publishers (Jones, M.L. 2012, 177). Thus, we should state that the multifaceted nature and the structural complexity of the studied industry are those backbones that allow it to preserve its positions in the modern world. Perceiving the issue of the music industry in retrospective, we should quote the researcher Peter Tschmuck who states that the music industry of the modern world witnessed a substantial change in paradigms. In addition, Tschmuck dwells upon the pattern of changes’ adopting typical for the music industry that include four main phases: rejection of the new paradigm; playing down its relevance; developing interest, and the last one, which is characterized by the complete acceptance of the new paradigm (Tschmuck, P. 2012, 230). It is obvious that the constant competition on the music market results in the increase in the variety of products in the studied sphere. The researcher Kristin Lieb supports this viewpoint and underlines the importance of the digital purchasing options available on the current music retail market. In addition, she focuses on the fact of the independent retail companies representing the most powerful element of the music distribution on the above-mentioned market (Lieb K. 2013, 117). Hence, we should claim that the music industry has broadened during the last century and received new specific features such as, for example, independence of the songwriters and freedom to arrange festivals.

Thus, the music industry becomes more and more open for people; this results in the rising number of bands, and solo singers who work for their own pleasure and benefit only, they do not subject their creations to the accepted copyright law. It seems relevant to address the issue under discussion from the viewpoint of the musicians and entrepreneurs themselves in order to obtain a complete picture of the situation. We observe the vivid contrast between the musicians who are bound by the contracts with publishers and independent ones who are capable of focusing on the creative process rather than stick to the existing rules and frames. Being bound makes the musician ‘big’ but, at the same time, makes him or her a subject of the rules of the modern music industry.

The researcher Catherine Fitterman-Radbill dwells upon the necessity of the cooperation between the singer and the publisher and songwriter, which becomes obvious when we look deeper into the complicated structure of the modern music industry. Fitterman-Radbill claims that the efficiency of the above-mentioned cooperation is higher than potential inconveniences caused by strict frames and conditions. Due to the rules and restrictions established and maintained by the publishers the consumers are obliged to pay for the songs and music piece, but in most cases the singers are deprived of the actual right for their songs unless they cave this enclosed in the contract with the publisher (Fitterman-Radbill C. 2013, 91). Hence, we can state that the contract may appear to be both – the ticket to the wealth and the obstacle on the way of the free creative process. This brings us to the phenomenon of the rise of independent specialized music festivals that appears to result from the changes, discussed above.

The Role of the Independent Music Festivals and Independent Musicians

Independent music festivals seem to be harmless and pleasant ways of amusement, nonetheless, they do cause particular problems and obstacles for the careers of the non-independent musicians. Embarking on this question is seems relevant to turn our attention to the historical aspects connected to the issue under discussion. The history of the music festivals could be traced back to the nineteenth century. In their turn, the first open-air music festivals appeared after the World War II when people were especially vulnerable and relayed upon the collectivity as a source of stability. The researcher William F. Thompson underlines the fact that the open-air festivals hosted the newly formed bands and opened them the way to the big scene (Thompson, W.F. 2014, 992).

At the very beginning of the present paper, we claimed that the independent singers and festivals arranged by and for them threaten the ‘big’ artists with substantial losses since the modern audience has a tendency to give preference to the independent ones. This may be explained by several factors among which we should address such ones as, for example, the difference in the tickets’ price (the ones for the concerts of the independent musicians are cheaper), the proximity to the audience and ability to change the major style and spheres of interest.

Those free artists are not obliged to share their income with a vast number of entrepreneurs since they are capable of participating in the free-of-charge performances and gain popularity without demanding any hard work of stylists and songwriters they do not spend money on charity in order to underprop their reputation, etc. Thus, they are freer in their lives and choices directly connected with their career, this makes them stand apart as compared to the other musicians who cannot allow themselves to adapt to this new style. The Swedish researchers Christoph Weckerle, Manfred Gerig and Michael Söndermann consider this issue from the viewpoint of the recording companies that, according to the information provided, experienced a dramatic decline in music revenues.

The researchers claim that the reason for such decline resides in the growing popularity of the so-called ‘pirate’ downloads that rob the music production companies of the substantial part of their pure income (Weckerl C., et al. 2008, 53). This allows us to draw a parallel between these ‘pirate’ downloaders and independent musicians who do not actually steal money but, nevertheless, do steal potential audience and establish new system in the industry of music production; the new rules are usually based on the creative chaos and freedom concerning the style, potential audience, and marketing area. Owing to such alteration in the established system’s work process, many entrepreneurs wind up unemployed and take the jobs below their actual level, as well as the musicians who also have to yield and make room for the newcomers with their unsystematic approach to the structure of the music recording industry.

The discussion of such issues as the role of the independent singers within the music industry certainly demands concrete example to support the expressed ideas. Thus, it seems relevant to address the researches done in the studied sphere. The researcher Tania Shillam studied the examples of the several newly formed bands the one of which called Moshikop is a typical group of ambitious artist who attempt to avoid the routine of the traditional music industry and administer their band the way they consider appropriate. Shillam quotes the band leader who states that being an independent singer is equal to being a self-employed person – the one is free in choosing the field of work, though he also addresses this freedom as a sort of instability that results from the absence of the frames and rules. In addition, the researcher provides personal information concerning the interviewee and states that he had not completed his secondary education and now has no other option besides the professions available in the music industry (Shillam T. 2004, 17). This example shows imperfection of the whole system, the industry is now full of unemployed (sometimes even talented) people who want to work according to their own rules and so to say carry coals to Newcastle. In his turn, Richard Colwell dwells upon the traditional image of the musician typically pertaining to the Western culture.

Colwell claims that it is usually reflected in the minds of different people as the one depicting a new star who just stepped on the scene to perform and does not care about anything besides the music and emotion it evokes (Colwell R. 2006, 226). The fact that this image is addressed as ‘traditional’ allows us to assume that the changes caused by the incorporation of the independent musicians into the modern music industry caused profound changes it the basic images and audience’s perception of the iconic performer.

On turning our attention back to the issue of the independent festivals, it seems relevant to provide the theoretical basis in order to understand this issue profoundly. Thus, the researcher Roy Shuker differentiates between the classic and alternative scenes. In addition, we should mention that the alternative scenes could be of two types – the local (college or school) and the urban (small cities) scenes. (Shuker, R. 2005, 239). Within the frames of the current research, we pay special attention to the alternative scenes as the place used by the newly formed bands and green musicians as the starting point of their careers. On conquering this audience, the independent musicians move forward in order to continue their work on a larger scale. At this point, they start to interfere with and threaten the careers of the already famous musicians, using the most famous their singles and top hits the newcomers often supersede the well-known artists due to the peculiar novelty of the latter as compared to the former ones. Hereby, we can claim that the independent festivals and alternative scenes are suitable starting points and are always open to the independent musicians but, at the same time, we should not forget about the division of powers in the sphere of the music industry. The above-mentioned opened scenes considered being below the level of the ‘big’ musicians and representing the closed part of the market while the big scene is still open for the independent musicians.

This issue disturbs the existing balance pertaining to the music industry. Thus, it enables us to continue our research on a profound level, at this point, we are going to consider the role of the young musicians in the modern music industry and the roots of their devastating influence on the careers of the musicians and the entrepreneurs. The devastating effect of the independent musicians on the careers of the famous ones is obvious and supported by various researchers. Thus, Jonathan R. Wynn provides an example of the musician named Krukowski who was involved in the case connected with the famous musicians and life performance during the concerts. Krukowski is accused by the author of misconstruing the intricacies of the new digital sources (Mass Media) and this way damaging the careers of the musicians who had to clarify the true facts to restore their positions in the society (Wynn, J.R. 2015, 33). Thus, we should pay special attention to the other important point such as the use of the modern digital technologies in the sphere of music production and retail.

The Role of the Digital Technologies

To continue with our research it seems important to underline the high importance of the technological progress and its influence on all the aspects of the music production. The issue of digital enhancement continues being one of the most controversial points in the discussion. Some of the independent musicians use all the benefits of the digital era while the old-school musicians stick to the existing rules and prefer the real performances, even though this does not have any positive influence on their careers. It seems relevant to address another characteristic feature pertaining to the modern musicians that also interferes with the career growth of the ‘big’ stars resides in the ability to use the advanced technologies in order to make the independent music production advanced and bring it to the new level of professionalism. In his turn, the researchers Brian J. Hracs, Michael Seman and Tarek E. Virani state that the competitive basis of the relationships between the independent and non-independent musicians interferes with the career of both but, nevertheless, the damage is substantial as far as the careers of the latter are concerned (Hracs, B.J., et al. 2016, 45). This viewpoint allows us to consider the music industry as the metaphorical battlefield where the new technologies represent the most powerful weapon used by both sides. The digital era provides the industry with the new opportunities; though, it takes away the originally accepted norms and rules, which eventually influences all the participants of the music production process.

The dead form of finding the new talented musicians has passed away substituted by the new modern technologies. Nowadays, the producers find an unsigned artist judging by his or her success on YouTube and make this musician a new star. The researcher Mickey Hess supports the expressed idea and claims that the music industry has changed with the invention of the Internet and such virtual spaces as YouTube. In addition, Hess dwells upon the fact that such search engines make the lives of the producers easier, since finding the new talents is no longer a time-consuming line of would-be musicians (Hess M. 2009, 492). This aspect also interferes with the careers of the entrepreneurs, since the Internet technologies and the ability to arrange the concert, sale and buy tickets on-line, etc. demands new skills and the new level of proficiency as far as the main work of the entrepreneurs is concerned. The researcher Dal Yong Jin also blames the developments in the sphere of the digital technologies for being the main cause of the record companies decline (Jin, D.Y. 2010, 375). In order to make this idea more vivid it seems relevant to clarify the reasons for the above-mentioned decline of the recording companies.

The representatives of the music industry made the first step toward their elimination that came along with the MP3 introduction. In addition, we should address the research data provided by Matthew David who dwells upon possible consequences of the digital technologies’ interference with the current music industry, David claims that the digital recordings have two potential spheres they may influence. The first one deals with the fact that no one will buy the recordings being able to download them free-of-charge, which certainly will result in a lower income of the musicians themselves and the entrepreneurs, also such attitude is likely to erode the trust of the musicians towards their audience. The second resides in the fact that the live performances, which generate the sufficient part of the musicians’ revenue, will no longer be demanded since the video and audio recordings available on the Internet are free and all one needs is only clicking the button to see the favourite star (David, M. 2009, 156). These two reasons are considered highly relevant and represent the essence of the above-expressed ideas and the results of the current research.

In order to supply the research paper with the alternative views on the issue under discussion, it seems highly relevant to quote the researcher Michael Repel. Repel assumes that the decline in the sphere of music production is partially connected with the fact that the audience and the musicians themselves has a tendency to change tastes, grow older and lose interest toward the certain kind of music they used to admire (Repel M. 2015, 370). Thus, according to this way of perception, the new generation of musicians is destined to supersede the old ones bringing along the new styles and new concepts used to administer the whole sphere. The old-fashioned way the music industry used to function in the twentieth century is now surely considered outdated, this sphere demands innovation that would respect the interests of both the independent musicians and those who prefer to work according to the contracts. Thus, it seems necessary to state that the two previously mentioned reasons that led to the elimination of the role of the recording studios and entrepreneurs within the frames of the modern music industry are both important and highly influential.

However, the situation did not get to the dead end and we can state that there are still chances to remedy it with the help of changing but not eliminating the role of the entrepreneurs and the recording companies. We suggest the new way that resides in charging the above-mentioned people with new duties that would be relevant within the frames of the modern technologized world.

In conclusion, it seems important to point out that the modern version of the music industry differs from the one that used to be suitable and worked perfectly in the previous century. The rivalry between the ‘big’ well-known bands and musicians and the newly appeared ones who claim the right to take over makes the whole system weaker and brings destruction in the sphere. The digital technologies that once were considered the advantage of the modern society appeared to have opposite effect as far as the music industry is concerned. Within the framework of the present research paper, we proved that the musicians, songwriters, and producers suffer from the involvement of the new technologies into the process of music production and distribution; the role of the independent musicians and festivals arranged for them should not be underestimated as well. Consequently, to draw the line of the current research, it seems highly relevant to claim that the devastating effect caused by the rise of the new digital technologies and the independent music festivals leads to fall of the well-known singers, songwriters, and other entrepreneurs’ careers. This issue represents a very peculiar and underexplored topic that could serve as the perfect basis for the continuation of the studies in the sphere of the music industry.