The music industry has gone through many changes over the years. Physical album sales are no longer the biggest income stream for the music business. Illegal downloading of music has put a huge dent in sales, taking away what would have been a sale of a record with each download. How music is listened to has changed quite a bit over the years as well. CDs, vinyl, and cassettes fell by the wayside as satellite radio, paid downloads, and subscription music streaming services came to the forefront as the leading music sales channels. According to statista.com, music album sales have dropped from 500 million sales in 2007 to 241 million sales in 2015.
Music album sales in the United States from 2007 to 2015 (in million units)
The trends in music marketing have changed quite a bit from 2007 to 2015. Apple music and Spotify are leading the way with 10 million and 25 million paying subscribers respectively, and there are new methods of music delivery being developed, some look promising while others look pretty darn silly. Oculus has developed the Rift VR headset, while Universal Music plans to create a series of virtual reality concerts.
Another trend I see is that of artists releasing their album projects independently without the help of major label distribution. R&B singers Charlie Wilson and Tyreese are doing well with their independently released albums. Artists are willing to “do it all”. What was once unusual, an artist going on without a major label deal, like what Prince once did, now is beginning to become the “new normal” of the music industry. With the cost of Internet services becoming more affordable, and quality computers with more power than ever within our reach, more and more people are “doing it for themselves” becoming the recording studio, record label, and music distributor all in one.
References:
No comments:
Post a Comment