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  • Essay / The Impact of Digital Platform and Technology on the Music Industry

    We cannot emphasize enough the importance of music in our daily lives. Musical language is one of the most important platforms that allow us to speak a common language that acts as a social narrative. It helps bridge gaps and unite people. This triggers subconscious emotions that we are unaware of. There have been massive changes over the years in the way we listen to music, from using records to streaming. Streaming platforms have irreversibly changed the music distribution landscape, now representing the largest growth segment of the recorded music industry. The emergence of technological improvement and the Internet has been the cornerstone. In this essay, we will talk about the different interest groups and stakeholders, thereby connecting music creators and consumers. We will also discuss contemporary changes and the impact of increasing digitalization on music economies. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay The rise of music streaming has grown exponentially with 24/7 internet accessibility. Not only did this make it easier to listen to a song, but it also gave entrepreneurs and developers the opportunity to expand their horizons. The ability to listen to and discover new music without having to download files or purchase songs made these platforms very attractive. Companies like Spotify, Apple Music, Deezer, and even YouTube have significantly changed the way we interact with music. Providing millions of songs in a huge network library at a reasonable price has made things easier for consumers. Additionally, digitalization has made it easier to exchange royalties and enforce strict copyright laws. The royalty is the amount paid to the owner due to copyright issues. Streaming platforms such as Spotify are commercial, so they provide music content from a range of major and independent labels and also allow artists to promote their future tours, events or music album launches. YouTube provides a similar platform to artists and allows them to promote their product to a wider audience on a subscription basis and earn money through the YouTube Partner Program (YPP). In addition to being a stage for emerging artists, YouTube also promotes the possibility of organizing live streaming music festivals. For all its positives, streaming platforms have their share of negatives which will be covered later. There are primarily two distinct music industries: the live music industry and the recorded music industry. In these industries, music publishers and music recording play a huge role. In both cases, the goal is simple: attract more audiences so that creators and consumers benefit. Music publishers support and develop songwriters and handle the business aspects of their careers. Music publishing is really about songwriters and copyrights. In the modern era of digital music, preserving the right to music is extremely important. Under copyright law, owners have the right to benefit from public use of their products. When it comes to how artists and songwriters get paidthrough digital music consumption (streaming and downloading), music publishing concerns the different types of songwriter royalties earned by a composition. Although streaming revenue and download sales may be collected by your digital distributor, songwriter royalties associated with each stream and download must be collected and administered by a publisher. According to recent billboard reports, Spotify has offered advances to various managers and artists in an attempt to license their music directly to the streaming service. Companies like Apple Music have followed suit. Such measures could have catastrophic consequences for actual publishers, as streaming companies would distract them from their work. The recording industry is a little different from the publishing industry. It focuses primarily on copyright over sound recordings. Unlike the publishing house, the record company assumes the costs of producing the music as well as owning the artists' rights. The recording industry has a close link with the economy of scarcity. In simpler terms, it's when high demand is supported by limited resources. Previously, the cost of recording was extremely high, meaning that a handful of artists were actually able to record their songs. These changed significantly after the digitalization of music. One such notable platform is YouTube, which has paved the way for many future recording artists. Additionally, digital sales have reduced marginal costs (cost added by producing an additional unit of product). This also meant that the products were not perishable, which meant that sales of these services continued until demand declined. This has greatly improved the supply of new artists, thereby reducing middlemen or gatekeepers, creating an economy of abundance. There have been some problems because of this. Copyright was disrupted and piracy increased. Companies like Napster and Pirate Bay have disrupted the legal way to explore music. There has been massive copyright infringement around Napster and the dispute has caused other problems. People reproduced sound recordings without the permission of the copyright owners. This ultimately led to Napster's shutdown. The way we perceive music has changed enormously after the start of streaming and digitalization in general. Over the years, each new format led to an increase in sales, as the music buyer felt obligated to purchase the different formats of their favorite music. With the development of digitalization and streaming music recording, reproduction and distribution have become easier as barriers to entry have been lowered. Technology has also made it easier to store songs and greatly reduced storage problems. Streaming sites like iTunes can store thousands of music from different genres in a single library. This has allowed consumers to surf a wide variety of music without needing to listen to a song they don't like. Instead, listen to the songs recommended based on their tastes. These platforms have also made marketing accessible and improved connectivity with consumers. Marketing of products and services has changed in the modern era of digitalization. The name of a brand or business is a great way to connect with fans on an emotional level and social media plays a big role in these motivations. It captivatesusually fans around the world and turns them into fanatics. Usually, agents and managers play a vital role in promoting artists. There are a few key differences between agents and managers. Agents are typically franchised and state-operated and earn no more than 10% commission based on their work. They are usually likely to provide jobs to their clients. Rather, managers can set their own terms and are not necessarily obligated to provide work for their clients and can hold up to 15-20% of the profits. They coordinate all other service providers in the artist's career and would like to have maximum rights over the artists. The rise of Lady Gaga is one of those success stories for marketers, managers and artists in the age of digitalization. Coalition Media's Troy Carter, Gaga's manager at the time, used advances in digitalization and help from marketing firm ThinkTank Digital to invest heavily in growing Lady Gaga's global presence through social media . They encouraged Lady Gaga to use her Twitter account to improve emotional connectivity with her fans. They also implemented an exclusive online interview to improve reach. This showed how technology has improved online marketing. The Copyright Act is essential and is a fundamental key element that combines all the crucial concepts we have looked at. Copyright mainly protects works which include musical works and artistic works. Additionally, it also protects subjects other than work, i.e. sound recordings. Basically, the law provides an exclusive right to reproduce a work and communicate with the public. Copyright is not only important in the business basis of the recording and publishing industries, but it is also essential to all contracts, disputes and developmental issues that these industries face. Each time a copyright agreement is made with the streaming sites and the songs are downloaded or streamed by consumers, a mechanical royalty is paid to the owner. The other form of royalty is the performance royalty that the owner earns each time the song is performed in public. Two main organizations that deal with mechanical royalties are: the Australasian Mechanical Copyright Owners Society (AMCOS) for music publishers and the Australasian Recording Industry Association (ARIA) for record labels. The two organizations reached an agreement on how revenue could be distributed between record labels, publishers and of course artists. “The merchant purchase price (PPD) is generally used to pay the royalty based on the revenue generated. Interactive streaming networks such as YouTube, Apple Music and Spotify collect a mechanical royalty on the revenues collected. Digital downloads from iTunes and Amazon also contribute to revenue. As noted previously, performance royalties are broad and varied. The Australasian Performing Right Association (ARPA) protects the rights of these songwriters. ARPA issues a general license to any entity wishing to use its songs. A blanket license grants the music user seeking a music license the right to use any song in the catalog. ARPA then tracks the usage of the songs and pays royalties due to the performance of those songs. Once again, interactive streaming contributes to these royalties. Internet radio stations like the BBC also help generate royalties. The other license.