Music Internet Assignment - Research Paper Example

The Music Industry and the Internet Over the last ten years, the music industry has seen their profits decline as music consumers have switched from physical musical recordings to digital recordings. This change has been magnified in the past three years by both Spotify and Pandora, which have created a music business model that offers music to fans without charging significant amounts, and getting money from adverts (Tu 55). This has also altered the music distribution model to digital streaming, which will benefit the streaming services at the expense of record labels and record shops, as well as artists themselves. However, both Spotify and Pandora are yet to substantiate a business model that supports offering free music to a large portion of its users (Hull et al 22). Although they both have a small percentage of subscribers paying for its services, they are still reliant on ads to cover most of their costs. This is because they have already made the best music catalogues free for their users, which only makes it harder to convert them to a model where they pay for music (Gordon 34). In addition, most music listeners stream music because it is cheaper to listen to an entire catalogue of music compared to having to search for single physical copies. Personally, I use Spotify for my streaming services because it offers more functionality than Pandora with its messaging, library function, artist radio, and its apps. It enables the user to create playlists of what the music they wish to listen to, while also making recommendations (Sanchez 41). In addition, it is possible to use the service for longer without paying by registering for free trials using different email addresses after expiry of the 30-day limit. My demographic would; however, pay for a streaming service that allows interaction with artists, such as iTunes did with the Beyoncé album by offering value and a surprise element for fans. I personally would not pay for music since I attend concerts avidly. Works Cited Gordon, Steve. R. The Future of the Music Business: How to Succeed with the New Digital Technologies: a Guide for Artists and Entrepreneurs. Milwaukee, WI: Hal Leonard Books, 2013. Print. Hull, Geoffrey. Hutchison, Thomas. Strasser, Richard. & Hull, Geoffrey. The Music Business and Recording Industry: Delivering Music in the 21st Century. New York: Routledge, 2013. Print. Sanchez, Joseph. From Content Warehouse to Content Producer: Libraries at the Crossroads. , 2013. Print. Tu, Yanbin. Zhao, Miao. & Jones, Cathleen. "Insights into Social Media and Online Digital Music." 2014. Print. Read More