Introduction
The Internet has become the most critical factor in the development of the music industry worldwide. When the audience of Internet publications began to grow rapidly at the end of the XX century, it was discussed at conferences whether the Internet would displace television and newspapers. Online music distribution is becoming more and more popular since nowadays, almost everyone has a smartphone with Internet access and portable headphones.
Main body
Nowadays, much more music diverges not by albums but by individual songs. If earlier musicians made a record that had a couple of hits which they offered, for example, for $ 15, now they sell it separately – each for less than a dollar (Arditi, 2018). The American company Apple, which produces Macintosh computers, made a new revolution by releasing the iPod music player in 2001(Arditi, 2018). It was an elegant and convenient device in a Macintosh way, included a large hard drive, and integrated with their online music sales service iTunes. By the end of 2004, more than 4 million songs a week were being sold through iTunes (Arditi, 2018). Consequently, the Internet has a significant impact on the music industry and the income of music artists
Thus, inspired by this success, competitors launched alternative online mp3 music stores with might and main. And very soon, high-quality music players will be integrated with mobile phones, which will provide a breakthrough in music sales in files. The first devices of this kind – not just an mp3 player in the phone, but a full-fledged combination with a player, including a half-gigabyte of memory – began to go on sale this year. When each person has a phone in their pocket to listen to hundreds of high-quality music tracks, the demand for such files will be very high.
The Internet helps those who want to produce a high-quality product. In fact, everything is possible: from ordering equipment directly from the manufacturer, without extra charges from retailers, to organizing recording, information, mastering, producing, design, and distribution. The Internet has enabled professionals worldwide to offer their help – composer, arranger, sound engineer, session musician, artist, designer – to a much larger audience than before. However, it is still far from the pillar road of turning the industry into a “global village,” but personal paths leading to this village are multiplying every day. Developing professional skills thanks to the Internet has become easier than ever before. There is still nothing to replace direct contact with the teacher, but even here, there are new opportunities such as Skype lessons.
Finally, music as a business has been most thoroughly affected by the development of the Internet. For example, the comfortable opportunity to listen to any music for free turned into serious troubles for the industry at the beginning of the new century. The disappearance of physical medium, the closure of stores, the bankruptcy of retail chains – for several years, such news has been a constant news background. Digital sales only compensated for these losses last year, when the industry finally showed a small increase after a decade of decline. Due to the long drop, the attention of major labels naturally switched to teenagers – the audience that brings the highest income. The next flowering of teenage groups began back in the 90s (Eiriz & Leite, 2017). The fact of the matter is that teenagers, in addition to recordings and concerts, can additionally sell a lot of related merchandise – and thereby smooth out the damage from the failure in sales of CDs.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it is important to note that the Internet affects all areas of our lives. Moreover, under the influence of the Internet and social networks, people’s attitude to music and the recording industry has changed. Consequently, music now appears and is distributed on the Internet. When the Internet is firmly established as people’s time dominant business, cultural, and entertainment environment in the next decade, we will see if things will change.
References
Arditi, D. (2018). Digital subscriptions: The unending consumption of music in the digital era. Popular Music and Society, 41(3). 302-318
Eiriz, V., & Leite, F. P. (2017). The digital distribution of music and its impact on the business models of independent musicians. The Service Industries Journal, 37(13-14).