YouTube and the Music Industry - Essay Example

section/# YouTube and the Music Industry: The Creation of a New Paradigm Shifts in technology and society continually redefine consumer markets for a litany of different goods and services. Interestingly, the consumption of music is no different with respect to the change and impact that technology and society has upon the way that the individual consumer integrates with it. With advancements in technology, the proliferation of the Internet, and online stores, consumers can easily find most new or cutting edge products with ease. This includes new artists and new music. The following analysis will provide the reader with a discussion and analysis for the way in which YouTube is serving as a powerful tool that is helping to restructure the music industry; as well as the way that consumers interact with, listen to, and become fans of new artists. Through such a level of analysis, it is the hope of this author the reader can gain a more insightful level of appreciation for the way in which the music industry is being re-defined by the power of YouTube and the means through which the older structure of music and talent representation is becoming more and more unnecessary. The existing model of music adoption was rigid and required the involvement of several individuals or groups of individuals before a new artist could be considered as “on the scene”. For instance, under the old model, a new artist must either seek out a talent scout or be recognized by a talent scout. Once this was complete, it was then necessary to schedule a date and time in which the new “talent” could represent their skills in the form a demo or in front of other record executives; who would then determine whether or not it was in the financial best interests of a record label to sign them and expend the money required to promote their music. Naturally, the process that has thus far been defined is laborious and has many inefficient and “blind” components. For instance, within the structure that has thus far been defined, it is ultimately the judgment of the talent scout that determines whether or not an individual is worthy of the investment that a record label could expend on them as a means of marketing their music. With only a handful of individuals tasked with making strategic decisions based upon what the consumer ultimately wants, it is clear to see how such judgments run the likelihood of incorrectly gauging the end consumer’s response to a given genre of music or a given artist. Accordingly, the prior model was essentially and fundamentally flawed and prone to being replaced by a more efficient and accurate level of talent recognition. Not surprisingly, the means by which the prior model has been replaced is with regard to the use and proliferation of YouTube as a means through which a budding or hopeful artist can represent their talents to a very wide cross-section of society; thereby providing a general barometer for the way in which consumers will likely accept or reject the artist. Not surprisingly, this extremely new approach to talent recognition has served to fundamentally redefine the way in which the music industry operates as a means of finding new talent. In addition to providing for far better coverage and allowing talent scouts to scour the globe in search of talented young singers and musicians, it has further improved the overall democracy that would otherwise be exhibited within the process. What is meant by this has to do with the level and extent that the old system of talent acquisition relied upon the expert opinion of a few record company professionals; however, the newer model allows for the talent scout to effectively understand how broader society is likely to engage with a new artist; as an extrapolation of the positive or negative comments that exist within a particular video link on YouTube. Another powerful change that this YouTube revolution has helped to effect is with regard to the way in which the record companies were previously required to expend a large amount of time, energy, and money in promoting a particular artist within a select community or demographic. Yet, with the advent of YouTube and the hopeful artists that represent themselves within this format, the degree and extent to which the individual can self promote is drastically increased. Moreover, the prior model was one in that necessarily required the undersigning and agreement of a large powerful corporate entity as a means of making the artist recognizable. Recognizing that they had a complete monopoly on this process, record companies were able to sign artists for pennies on the dollar; reminding them again and again that if it were not for the record company they would not be recognized or have the deep pockets to promote themselves or their music. However, with the advent of YouTube and the means of self and community promotion that an avid and involved/connected fanbase can have, the need or requirement to involve a record company, talent scouts, or corporate promotions in the early stages of career development are necessarily much lower than they were under the prior model that has thus far been discussed and described. From an interview carried out with Cathia, it was clear and apparent that the entire music industry has embraced these trends and is utilizing social media and the power of YouTube as a way to integrate with the audience as well as promote existing talent and find new talent. For instance, a cursory review of the hit show “The Voice” reveals that several of the singers on this program ultimately began their start as semi-professionals by posting videos of themselves on YouTube and allowing social media to serve as the means through which they were able to promote their music (Mlot, 2012). What is unique about all of this is with regard to the rate of change and the means by which the music industry has accepted and embraced these changes within the past several years. In keeping with the theme of promotion that has been discussed, YouTube provides a powerful tool through which the “early adopter” is able to influence the music market as a whole. The “early adopter”, just as within the realm of fashion, is one that recognizes a particular trend and moves to promote it within their social community; thereby acting as a type of envoy and brand ambassador. As can be noted, this process is one that does not cost the artist or would-be artist a single penny. The underlying reason for this has to do with the fact that those “fans” who are in fact “early adopters” promote the artist or artists within their own social networks free of charge; reaching tens of thousands of potential consumers of this type of music. Beyond this fact, this particular type of marketing is extremely efficient and directed towards those that would likely be the prime demographic or lifestyle group who would consume this type of music. Working hand in glove with this, these early adopters are further able to leverage technology in the fact that those that they share the music with are invariably presented with access to the artist as a function of social networking sites such as Twitter, Facebook and the like (Bender & Colchester, 2010). As an early adopter is pro-active about finding new content, they are oftentimes prolific in sharing this with those that are within their social circles. Researchers have noted that these individuals comprise the first 15 percent of people to discover the product. Yet, even though they represent this low percentage, the power and impact that they can have is not commensurate with their overall representation within the general population. Another added component of this redirection and integration of technology within the realm of music has to do with the increased nexus between YouTube and other social media formats. With Google’s expansion into the realm of social media, the means by which YouTube links and comments are directly appended to an individual’s Google+ account means that the direct and immediate impact that these “early adopters” have is even more broad and expansive than was otherwise thought. Musicians that have utilized this approach to gain popularity include the likes of Justin Bieber and many others. The attraction that this approach has spans far beyond decreased start up costs. Instead, those would-be artists that might not have had the courage the chase down a talent scout or present their music to a record company have the courage to promote themselves on YouTube and other similar formats. From the information that has been described, it is clear and apparent that YouTube has provided a fundamental change in the way that talent is found, promoted, and engaged. Whereas it would be foolish to state that this will be the paradigm into the definitive future, it is clear that the current era of music and talent acquisition is heavily impacted upon by the power of social media and the likes of YouTube. References Bender, R., & Colchester, M. (2010, November 26). YouTube, Artists. Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition. p. B5. Mlot, S. (2012). YouTube Inks Licensing Deal With Music Publishers. PC Magazine, 1. Read More