Introduction
The music industry has experienced tremendous changes over the past few decades. The revolution in the sector is highly associated with the advancement in technology and the internet. The industry has shifted from music labels selling plastic or vinyl discs to an era that looked like it would disappear completely because people were sharing MP3s on Napster (Prey, 2019).
The above-mentioned period drastically reduced musicians’ earnings, which resulted in artists concentrating on concerts or entertainment shows. However, the technological and internet improvements gave rise to the digital music era, which seems to give musicians hope for music independence. The former allowed artists to record videos, post them on various platforms and get connections, gigs, and some revenues (Prey, 2019).
Currently, the industry and artists seem to be making more money than before, and the sector faces new challenges related to technology. Liz Pelly has been a journalist and a music critic who has observed the industry’s transitions. This paper, therefore, analyzes Pelly’s thoughts, perceptions, and opinions as a music critic.
Liz Pelly’s Background
Liz Pelly is a journalist and media critic who has published on various platforms, including Rolling Stone, the Guardian, Pitchfork, NPR, and the New York Times. She mainly transcribes for the Baffler, where she is a contributing editor. She publishes articles concerning the influence of streaming services and platform technologies on music.
Pelly is deeply rooted in the DIY scene in Boston and New York, where she is a member of the Silent Barn collective and also with the alternative media, the Indy weekly space. Presently, she has been writing articles and opening the eyes of musicians and their fans to the way different platforms sell music or use music to push their agenda. Particularly, Spotify is trying very hard to reshape the world of music online.
Music Industry Trends
Pelly has been open with her observations about the current happenings in digital music. Though the world feels that many artists are making money by distributing their music online, the truth is that online music games are controlled by a small handful of corporations (Pelly, 2019). These firms are more concerned with pushing their agendas and making profits than they are about artists and communities whose work circulates on their platform.
For instance, Apple Music uses its platform to promote and sell iPhones, laptops, iPads, and other hardware; streaming music is just part of making these products more valuable. On the other hand, Amazon Music proposes to sell Alexa devices and Amazon Prime subscriptions. Other platforms that stream music online have agendas that they push using music.
Pelly (2019) opines that gradually the world of music is obliged to these enterprises like Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music, and YouTube. The majority of these corporations are not in the industry for the long-term benefits of the music sector. Pelly’s perspective creates great concern for artists, communities, and the industry at large.
Over the years, as a music journalist and editor, Pelly (2017) observed that many companies are creating money out of the handwork of artists. She argues that technology and the internet expose the industry to greater levels of vulnerability. She argues that there needs to be a way to control technology to ensure that artists make money without other parties benefiting from their investment. She gives a good example of Spotify, which is a platform where people subscribe to get access to diverse music.
Currently, Spotify is making over $20 billion by presenting itself as the savior and future of the music industry. However, Pelly finds it manipulative because the front-page screen presents a typical impression of choice, a stream of genre and mood playlists, charts, new releases, podcasts, and videos (Pelly, 2019). It all seems unlimited; however, in the real sense, the selection is highly managed by Spotify’s personnel and directed by the interests of major labels, brands, and other cash-rich businesses that are stakeholders in the company.
For instance, on Mondays, there is something like “Discover Weekly,” a playlist generated based on suggestions from fans listening routines. On Friday, there might be playlists like “New Music Friday,” a highly sought-after and well-trafficked playlist primarily from what has been trending over the week.
The music industry has evolved greatly, and musicians are excited to make life out of it. However, the way online platforms are handled, instead of being the highly anticipated change in the industry, is taking the industry back to the way it was decades ago. Pelly (2019) argues that corporations supporting music only promote artists who are well-known. The former leaves other musicians struggling, which makes money in the industry to circulate among a few artists instead of benefiting everyone in the industry. The former means that just because there is a good amount of money generated by music online, it does not mean that wealth trickles down to the average independent artist.
Additionally, the digital streaming era acts as a gatekeeper that controls which music is listened to and which is not listened to. The above-mentioned makes it possible for digital media to determine which music fails and which ones succeed by repeatedly playing certain labels and failing to play others. This makes known artists continue shining because a majority of them own considerable shares in digital media corporations like Spotify.
Additionally, famous musicians acquire licensing deals with these firms, which guarantee advertising spaces and promotional partnerships (Pelly, 2017). The former makes it hard for upcoming artists to penetrate the market, even with the growth in social media use and influence. This kind of operation makes the state of independence among musicians non-beneficial. Many artists get discouraged in the process and might give up on their music career to pursue other things that can earn them money.
Digital music has greatly discouraged artists from making albums with many songs. Since the internet encourages downloading only the songs one is interested in, as a response, artists have focused on releasing singles (Prey, 2019). The latter shows that the culture that the industry has known is significantly changing. The originality of music has also deteriorated over time. Artists assess the kind of music treading on the platforms, and instead of an artist focusing on their original idea, they copy the ideas of other artists that receive more acceptance.
Recommendations
After observing the trend in digital music, measures can be adapted to save the industry and benefit artists. Pelly (2019) believed that instead of the public subscribing to platforms, funding should be generated for locally based artists to finance music venues, studio space, music, education, and grants for recording or organizing festivals and shows. Pelly (2019) trusts that though this method is traditional compared to digital, it can help artists gain a connection with the community before posting it online. The former can keep the music community alive and also minimize the advantage taken by digital corporations by ensuring artists distribute their work online without other parties making a profit off of it.
Moreover, a music infrastructure that works solely for the industry with no intention of making profits but promoting music is the redeeming feature the sector requires. Pelly (2019) is more interested in the idea of a cooperatively managed streaming service and a taxpayer-financed streaming program that would have no playlists and no curation at all. The platform would be just an app for artists to upload their music. Furthermore, an artist-run, cooperatively run Band Camp-like factor where artists can publish and just sell their music directly would be the needed saving grace.
Conclusion
Conclusively, it is evident that the music sector has gone through significant changes. Pelly revealed digital music came with its fair share of challenges that, when not managed, can ruin the entire industry. Pelly makes society understand the issues of online music from a deeper perspective.
Pelly’s ideas shed light on why famous artists continue to be rich while upcoming musicians never reach the top. The money in the industry circulates among the few famous people, and the digital platforms only push for making profits and not enhancing music. It remains the duty of those who manage the industry to come up with strategies that can help focus on music and artists.
References
Pelly, L. (2017). The problem with Muzak: Spotify’s bid to remodel an industry. The Baffler, (37), 86-95. Web.
Pelly, L. (2019). In the era of teen $ ploitation. The Baffler, (45), 34-41. Web.
Prey, R. (2019). Background by design: Listening in the age of streaming. Naxos Musicology International, 1(1), 1-10. Web.