The Shift With Music in the Digital Age

So many changes have happened over the years in the music industry. The way fans are able to listen to music going from 8 tracks, to cassettes, to cd’s, and now mp3’s. With the progression of technology came the progression of the way music is presented to the masses. The change in technology has also changed the way music is produced from analog to digital.

Consumers can buy music instantly from sites like iTunes and Amazon, no longer do they have to wait in line at a record store for a new album release. With streaming applications like Pandora, Rhapsody, and Spotify fans can stream their favorite music for free with advertisements or pay a monthly fee for advertisement free music streaming. Social media has brought the artist and the fan closer with instant responses and reactions to their music or any current events.

Buy with the new digital age has the relationship between fan and artist been watered down. Many fans will stand in line for hours for the new album of their favorite artist and that showed their loyalty.  Yes artists can reach their fans faster and easier but that also includes their music as well. With the changes in technology came the new laws and new ways of doing business in the industry.  Making sure the artist is still making money off of their work no matter how it was sold.

Spotify and Artist Royalties

A big concern for any artist is making sure that they get paid for their music. With the change in the music industry and artist marketing an artist and labels have to think about the best way to distribute the music.

Since with Spotify an artist does not get paid when someone purchases a song but for how many times the song gets played. Fans are able to share their playlist with friend as well as suggest songs to friends. There are also featured artist and albums that listeners can choose from.

Now an artist would definitely want to become a featured artist because that will help to increase how many times their songs are played. Even if a listener is not a fan of the artist or never heard their music they are more likely to become curious and play their songs to find out the reason for the artist music to be featured. So of course bigger artist with major label backing with more than likely become a featured artist than an underground artist.

Underground artist need to make sure they have a good management and marketing team to ensure that they become visible to a larger fan base. This will increase the amount of plays and increase their royalty revenue.

New Trends in the Music Industry

The music industry is heading in a better direction for artists and selling their music. File sharing has lost its popularity with the crack down on a lot of those sites. Fans are still getting music digitally but instead of free downloads they are purchasing music from sites like iTunes.

The way an artist earns revenue from album sales have change drastically. Instead of traditional album sales, large portions of sales are from digital tracks and music streaming. With the digital age growing and fans having access to music apps on their smartphones or tablets, you will find fans streaming music from online radio stations as well as online streaming apps.

Artist are taking advantage of YouTube and social media to build their fan base and record sales. YouTube is a platform for new artist trying to create a buzz about themselves and their music.

Fans are looking toward online radio stations to listen to music. They are also using programs like Pandora and Spotify to stream music. You can listen to your favorite songs anytime you want and share it with your friends. The change in technology has brought about a change in the music industry, no longer are labels controlling everything. Slowly but surely through these new trends an artist is gaining more control.

Legal Podcast

Copyright vs. Universal Access

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/cory-doctorow-on-copyright/id129166905?i=82847415&mt=2

This podcast is on the side of the consumer being accused of copyright infringement. Companies are using the law wrongfully and not really going through the proper channels of checking to find out the information. They have companies that search keywords or names to make sure no one is using it improperly. This can lead to some confusing as the example in the podcast of a professor with the last name Usher that is the same as the R&B singer Usher. That professor is loading mp3’s of his lectures not songs of the artist, but because of the similar name his information is being taken off the site under the grounds of copyright infringement.

Trademarks and Logos

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/129-ll-can-facebook-trademark/id214581074?i=118382768&mt=2

Facebook is trying to trademark the word “Face”.  A trademark must be associated with the product. If using it commonly and not is social networking you can still use the word “Face”.  For example another computer company cannot sell computers under the name Apple. That will be direct violation of their trademark. This bring me to the question of the word “Face” now if Facebook trademarks the word “Face” will that stop the Apple application of FaceTime. There is a very thin line on what you can use as long as it is not being used in the same way as the company or person that has the trademark registered.

Patent

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/patent-wrangles-twitter-strangles/id563933198?i=121182360&mt=2

Samsung v Apple patent lawsuit

Apple, Inc. argues that Samsung is making smartphones and tablets similar to the iPad and iPhones. That Samsung wants to capitalize on the success of Apple, Inc., they didn’t go after Android or Google but went after the particular companies that actually made the phones since each company tweaks the style of the phone. The argument is that no one was making smartphone in the similar style until the iPhone with the touchscreen, before that phones had a keyboard similar to the Blackberry. As they stated in the podcast Apple, Inc. came out with something that was totally different than what was being presented at that time, so another company can think of an original design that is different than an iPhone. What company will come up with new trend in cell phone designs?

Music and the Law

 Technology has brought new challenges to the music industry. From free downloads on the Internet to music being sold on websites, music is now available to fans in a wide variety of ways. This leaves the artist making sure they protect their rights not only with the record label but also with the fans and how they receive their music. No one wants to work hard on a project and not be paid for it, unless the intention was to give it away freely in the first place.

The first lawsuit is Eminem suing his record label Universal Music Group on the how digital music was classified for the purpose of royalties. “Eminem’s contract stipulates that he gets 50 percent of the royalties for a license but only 12 percent for a sale.” Of course the record label would want the digital music to be labeled as a sale instead of a license because they would earn more of the royalties. Universal won the decision in 2009 but the decision was overturned in 2010 that was a very big thing for artist. Since each digital version of the song would be considered a license and now that digital music is the second highest way of buying music. Artist can now earn more for their work instead of the limited royalties of the past from sales.

The music industry feels that Google is playing a part in music piracy. The industry feels that by Google allowing the links to these various sites to be found in their search results that they are helping people to steal music. They want to make sure that Google ranks legal music sites higher than sites that encourage piracy. Since at this moment Google is the most used search engine and people world wide use the term “Google it” when they want to tell someone to search for information online the industry feels Google has the power to help stop piracy. Can Google really be blamed for piracy sites? Google is just a search engine that provides information on links for the information you put into search that is already on the Internet. This will be an interesting lawsuit if it happens that will change on music and other things are presented on the Internet.

Victor Willis won a victory not just for himself but other artist and writers who want to protect themselves and the rights over their music. This means not only does he take away rights from the music publishers but he increase his royalty amounts from 12% to 50%. Now that he has gained control over his music he can now make deals to earn more royalties by allowing third parties to use his music, before he had no say because the publishers had all the control. This may not seem like a big deal, but think about them using your song in a project that you were against and you had no way to stop them. His victory now allows him this right of full control.

As I have stated above with new technology it can help or hurt an artist. So as an artist you have to make sure you know your rights or surround yourself with people that will help you protect your rights. As the music industry changes and adjusts to the Internet and all the new laws it brings, artist must be extremely carefully with their contracts and the deals that they make.

Music and Politics

Recently everyone was in an uproar when they heard a verse from Nicki Minaj from a mixtape, "I'm a Republican voting for Mitt Romney/You lazy bitches is f---ing up the economy.” Nicki Minaj fans took to Twitter and Facebook to talk about their feelings on the verse. President Obama responded by saying he was sure that she didn’t mean anything by it and was just playing one of her characters. Nicki later went on to say that she appreciated that President Obama understood where she was coming from.

This leads to the question of “How big of an impact does music have in politics?” For years musicians have made music about wars and politics from their points of view. So should artists think about the things they say and how it affects their fans. Nicki Minaj probably thought that no one would take that one line seriously, but it has been the topic of discussion for weeks.

Artists have even supported and made commercials for Rock the Vote to encourage young adults to register to vote. Many celebrities whether Democrat or Republican have used their star power to back their favorite candidate. They know that their fans listen to their music and when they talk about the things they support.

Once you are in the spotlight your words and actions are under a microscope. I think sometimes artist forget this because they are trying to be creative. Their words are powerful especially to their younger fans that look up to them. No matter how much they try not to be, they are role models and need to think about what their music says to their fans.